


More Different Choices

by MaxiBrux



Series: Different Choices [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Discussion of Abortion, Implied/Referenced Abortion, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Multi, Non canon children - Freeform, Non-Canon Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-02-08 04:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 66,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxiBrux/pseuds/MaxiBrux
Summary: More short stories about what could happen if someone makes a different choice to the one in canon.  All Clarke centric and all one, two or three chapters.1.  Monty Chooses to Leave with Clarke After the Fall of the Mountain2.  Clarke Chooses not to go into cryo After the Battle for Shallow Valley3.  Aurora Chooses to discuss options with her second pregnancy - SEE WARNINGS (Clrk/Linc)4.  Clarke Chooses to Verbally Eviscerate Lexa After the Fall of Mt Weather5.  The Arc Council Choose to Send Different Test Subjects to Earth (Clrk/Lx)6.  Clarke Chooses to Ask Shaw About His Redemption7.  Clarke Chooses to Shoot Finn (Clrk/Bell)8.  Clarke Chooses to Sleep with Roan (Clrk/Roan)9.  Echo Chooses to Defy Madi and Kill Clarke (Clrk/Linc)10. Monty Chooses to Warn Clarke About Finn and Raven
Relationships: Bellamy Blake & Clarke Griffin, Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Bellamy Blake/Echo, Charmaine Diyoza & Clarke Griffin, Clarke Griffin & Jasper Jordan, Clarke Griffin & Madi, Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Clarke Griffin/Lincoln, Clarke Griffin/Roan, Finn Collins/Raven Reyes, Monty Green & Clarke Griffin, Monty Green/Harper McIntyre, Octavia Blake & Clarke Griffin, Octavia Blake/Lincoln
Series: Different Choices [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540513
Comments: 234
Kudos: 263





	1. Monty Chooses to leave with Clarke After Mt Weather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why wasn’t Clarke pisses with her people? I get that they were kids, but the saying about something being too good to be true is there for a reason.

“I can’t go in, Monty” Clarke said. “I couldn’t look at their faces, see their pain and know what I had to do to keep them alive”

Monty looked at Clarke, saw the pain in her face and echoed it. He then looked at Jasper who had made it clear that he would hate Monty for his part in the death of Maya for as long as he lived (Monty wasn’t sure if the ‘he’ mentally used referred to Jasper or himself, or both). Then Monty glanced at Harper, who struggled so much that she couldn’t bear the touch of those who merely wished to aid her.

“I’m coming with you” Monty said emphatically.

“Monty, no, you need to be with your friends” Clarke tried to persuade Monty to go into Camp Jaha and be with the rest of their people.

“Like you, I can’t Clarke. I keep seeing their faces, hearing their cries of pain. All those people who only wanted to come to the surface. They had waited all these years, why couldn’t they wait a few more months and we would have helped them?”

“Okay, we go back and bring them to the surface. Let’s tell Bellamy what we’re going to do. We’ll need to make sure he stays to help our people, they’ll need someone to be there for them and we all know that the adults won’t be.” Clarke said.

“Why not? It’s their children, surely they’ll …” and Monty trailed off seeing Clarke shake her head.

“They didn’t want us to come for you. They had written you all off and didn’t want us to have to make peace with the grounders. I think you’re all still delinquents, despite Jaha’s promise.”

Monty shook his head in disappointment with the adults as the two of them made their way to Bellamy.

“I think we deserve a drink, don’t you?” Bellamy said when he saw Monty and Clarke heading towards him.

“Have one for us. We’re not going in with you” Clarke said. “We’re going back to the mountain.”

“What? Why?”

“All they wanted was to get to the ground, so we’re gonna bring them to the ground and lay them to rest” Monty said.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll come with you” Bellamy agreed.

“You can’t” Clarke stopped Bellamy in his tracks. “Our people need you. We know, Bellamy we know that the others won’t look after our people. They were written off and not exactly mourned so we know they will need you to look after them.”

“So why don’t I go with Monty and you stay here to look after them?” Bellamy asked what he thought was a reasonable question.

“Because I can’t go in there and see them every day knowing what I had to do to get them out” Clarke offered.

“What we had to do, Clarke” Bellamy argued.

“What do you see when you look at them, Bellamy? Do you see the people who wouldn’t trust you when you said something was wrong? Do you see the people who happily believed that you had been hospitalised for psychiatric reasons rather than believe that you had to escape hell? Do you see the people who would prefer to eat chocolate cake and live in ignorance rather than know what was happening in the medical centre? No, because I do and Bellamy, I am pissed at them. Pissed because they didn’t trust me when I asked them to. Pissed because they wouldn’t leave with me and you had to risk your life to help rescue them. Pissed because I had to make a choice to let hundreds die in TonDC to keep you and consequently them safe, and commit genocide to save their lives when if they had listened to me at the start it wouldn’t have been necessary. So no, Bellamy, I can’t go in there and see their faces day after day knowing what I ended up having to do to save their lives when I am so pissed at them because of it.”

Both Monty and Bellamy stared at Clarke as if she was something cute with a deadly bite. This deeply hurt and angry Clarke was not someone they were used to seeing.

“Okay, Clarke, I get it, I do” Bellamy said. “You two go to the mountain and do what you have to do there. I’ll do my best to make sure all our people stay safe. If you need to move on, can you make sure you come by to see me first? I promise I won’t try to stop you, I’ll just reassure myself that you are okay and let you know what’s happening here.”

“I’ll go to the dropship after the mountain for a week or so. If you want to leave a message for me there, I’ll find it, or maybe we’ll be able to talk over the radio once we see what there is that we can scavenge.”

“Let’s do that. Take care, both of you. May we meet again” Bellamy said as he hugged Clarke and then Monty.

Clarke and Monty made their way back to Mt Weather, wishing they had just stayed there to start off with.

“Burial or pyres?” Monty asked.

“Depends on how much you want to suffer. Unless there are digging machines in there, burial will be harder work and take much longer” Clarke replied.

“Burial for Maya, her father and a few others. Pyres for the rest” Monty decided.

“Burial for all the children, too” Clarke asserted, to which Monty agreed.

They had set the second of the pyres alight when Clarke realised they were being watched. She mentioned it to Monty who said he would go and look at the surveillance. Clarke took a walkie-talkie so that they could stay in contact without the watchers knowing what was going on. While keeping an eye on the burning pyre, Clarke returned to digging the grave for Vincent Vie, next to where Maya lay at peace.

“Clarke, come in” Monty called over the radio. When Clarke acknowledged Monty’s call he went on “there’s about ten of them, hiding up in the trees. They don’t seem to be doing anything but watching, but there’s also five walking this way from the direction of Camp Jaha. It’s possible they saw the smoke and wanted to investigate.”

“Okay, let me know if there’s movement from those in the trees. I’ll just carry on being all ignorant as to what’s going on around me.”

Clarke continued to dig, stopping every so often to check on the burning pyre. The pyre was just smouldering when Clarke was warned that the group of five people who came from Camp Jaha were about to come into view. Clarke saw them: Marcus Kane, David and Nathan Miller, Jenna Fielding and Jasper Jordan; she said as much to Monty who said he was on his way to her.

“Clarke, Monty” Kane said when they reached them, “how are you doing? We thought we should come to give you a hand” and he wave his arm to indicate the pyres and burials.

“Why?” Clarke asked. “You didn’t kill them, although some peoples’ choices left me, us, with no options if we wanted to save our people, it wasn’t you who actually killed them.”

“If you had waited I could have got to Wallace!” Jasper declared. “You didn’t have to kill them all!”

“Jasper, we talked about this” Kane said trying to soothe the fiery teen. “Was Clarke supposed to let Raven and her mom be killed? You need to be reasonable about this.”

“Monty, can you re-wind the surveillance recordings to show Jasper what was happening when we pulled the lever?” Clarke asked, determined to stop Jasper from thinking he could have stopped Cage Wallace.

“Yeah, let’s all go through and see” and Monty led the group back into the bunker and to the control room. 

The screens showed that there were now only eight people watching from the trees. Monty rewound the recordings to show that two people peeled off and left when the group from Camp Jaha arrived. Monty took the recordings back to show everyone there what was happening to the grounders, what nearly happened to Bellamy, what happened to Fox, and what was happening when Jasper was so sure he nearly had Wallace.

“Do you need to see it again, Jasper?” Clarke asked.

“That was not necessary, Clarke” Kane said censoriously.

“Yes it is!” Clarke was adamant. “Do you need to see it again, Jasper. Can you watch this and point out how you would have been able to get to Cage? Show me how you could have saved my mom, or tell me what else I could have done to save our people. Come on, Jasper, you were so quick to tell me that I was a murderer who killed all these innocent people for no reason because you had it in hand, so come on, convince me.”

“Clarke, that is enough!” Kane said.

“That is not nearly enough. I tried to tell him that something was going on. I tried to tell him that we needed to get out, but no, he wanted to eat chocolate cake. And when he called begging for help, I came. I let hundreds die in TonDC, did he not see how Bellamy nearly died? Could he not hear Foxes screams? Because he wanted to eat cake. And when we do what we had to do to save his and others’ lives, he gives me shit, well no, I’ve had enough. Next time you need someone to save your life, Jasper, don’t call me until you can accept that I, no, we, did the best we could in the circumstances. Now I’m going back to work.”

Clarke could tell that she had shocked everyone with how angry she was. She was still so angry and the best way to get rid of it was to work so she went back outside to prepare the next pyre. Monty, the Millers and Jenna soon joined her and they worked together in silence.

As they piled on the bodies, stripped to their underwear, David Miller asked what had been done with the clothing.

“We’ve set them aside to wash. We thought that we could take the clothing and shoes back to Camp Jaha for repurposing. At some point we’ll go through the rest of the bunker and decide what to do. I’m not sure if there is anything in there that the grounders who were released from the cages would want; maybe I’ll ask Indra, or Lincoln” Clarke said, unaware that Jasper and Kane had arrived and heard her speaking.

“Clarke it’s up to the Council what happens to the bunker not you” Kane said.

“No, it’s up to Monty, Raven, Bellamy, Octavia and me. We’re the ones who took it. The Council didn’t even want us going back to get our people remember, so the Council has no say” Clarke was adamant. “You can’t keep throwing us away and expect us not to be pissed at you.”

“We didn’t throw you away” Kane was starting to lose his patience.

“Really, what do you call being dragged out of our cells, being thrown in to a dropship and sent to a planet that you thought was uninhabitable while being told by the Chancellor that we are expendable? And then, when we wanted to come to the mountain to save our people, putting us in prison and writing them off? I call that throwing us away so as far as I am concerned, if you are here, it’s with Monty or Bellamy’s agreement because it sure as hell isn’t with mine. I might not like Jasper at the moment, but he is fine to be here, as are Nathan, Jenna and David, because he tried to help us, unlike you. But this mountain, by virtue of conquest, now belongs to Bellamy, Monty, Octavia, Raven and me.”

“Clarke, you are part of us, all of you have been forgiven your crimes and are part of us and belong at Camp Jaha” Kane persisted.

“Tell me, Kane, what crime did Octavia commit that she needed to be locked up and receive a pardon? I don’t believe she did anything. What crime did I commit? I learned a secret from two adults, one of whom was floated, the other not and I was put in solitary for over a year. I want no part of Camp Jaha, nor the Exodus Charter. I will not make choices for the others; even if they stay with you I hope to maintain contact with some, but I want no part of people who shoot first to kill like you did when I turned up with Anya. So hypocritical, you can happily kill and torture people but when the grounders wanted Finn because he killed 18 of their innocents you objected.”

“Clarke, you have an awful lot of anger in you” David said. “Can’t say I blame you for most of it, but there is no need to make irreversible decisions now. Why don’t we get back to work finishing these funeral pyres and digging the holes for the graves you want?”

Clarke could only agree with David’s reasoning and got back to work.

Most of the bodies had been burned and the graves dug and filled by the time they called it a night. The next day would see the last of the pyres and Clarke wanted to get started on markers for the graves. 

Monty, Jasper, Nate, Jenna and Clarke made their way to the Control Room. They looked at the monitors to see that there were now at least 20 people hiding in the trees. They needed to make sure that they could not gain access to the mountain. Jasper and Nate went to check all the doors were sealed, and the one that was broken was wedged shut with furniture. Monty took first watch.

It was during Nate’s watch after midnight that the people in the trees made their move. Nathan woke the others to alert them to what was going on. It was Monty who came up with the idea to try to frighten them away. He spent about three minutes at a keyboard and then gave a mic to Clarke with a nod of encouragement.

“Hey!” she shouted through the mic, somehow managing to keep a straight face when she saw all the people outside stop moving. “This is Clarke Griffin of the renamed Mt Sky, I don’t know what you think you are going to achieve here, but I want you all to leave so that I don’t have to do something to require me to build more pyres than are still needed for the previous occupants of this place. I don’t think you heard me; leave this place. Go and tell your Commander that the mountain men are no more but you are to leave us in peace. This mountain now belongs to the sky people by right of conquest so leave, now!”

Clarke didn’t know if she really expected it to work, but the intruder wannabes left and went back to the tree line. “Do you think this would travel to them?” she asked Monty.

“Just give me a sec to increase the volume. There you go.”

“I can still see you” Clarke said into the mic. “Go back a little further, and for goodness sakes, send some of your runners to warn your Commander to leave us alone.” The heat signatures moved back and merged into the forest.

“You crazy people over in the mountain, we could hear you through our radio” Bellamy’s voice came through. “Did you really mean what you said, presumably to grounders who were trying to get in? Over” he asked.

“Yeah, Kane wants us to be all one clan so that they get to decide everything about this place but Clarke said that it belongs to those of who took it, not the Council” Monty answered through the radio.

“It’s not going well here” Bellamy said. “Most of the adults look at us all as if we’re feral. Other than me, who has been reassigned to the guards, we’ve all been given crappy jobs – kitchen and laundry type stuff. None of us are even allowed to go hunting. We are not allowed to leave the compound at all. I don’t know if that is because Kane took Jasper, Nate and Jenna, or because you and Clarke never came back, or something else, but we have crappy tents, no furs, no food stores and no right to go and get some.”

Clarke took the radio from Monty. “Bell, what if the 100 either settled here, or negotiated with Trikru that we give them the mountain but we have an area around the dropship site given to us? It would be easier here, the facilities and the security, and I suppose we could build homes on the mountain side, or by the reservoir so we’re not stuck inside, but could we get over what happened here?”

“It’s no worse then what happened at the dropship site, Princess” Bellamy said and the term no longer sounded at all derogatory. “Let me talk to the others here, you talk to those there and I’ll speak to you tomorrow. In the meantime, get some sleep and tell Monty to make the place as secure as he can.”

“It’s about as secure as we can make it, we just have to keep an eye on the monitors” Monty said. “I would like us to set up home here if we can build cabins by the reservoir so we’re not trapped inside. There’s lots of good stuff here, and I really want to examine these computer more, and there’s a workshop that Raven would like, a farm so that we know we won’t starve even in winter and once we’ve cleaned it up, you know the medical centre is great, Clarke.”

“So your choice is to stay here, Monty. Miller?” Clarke asked.

“I agree with Monty and Bellamy. This place has as many bad memories as the dropship, but it also has more potential to allow us to make better memories so I vote stay here. I don’t like having to carry water about a camp when I shouldn’t have to as my only job”.

Clarke nodded then looked to Jasper.

“I would prefer the dropship, but at least here I would be closer to Maya’s grave so I’ll go along with the majority as long as I don’t have to stay at camp Jaha” Jasper said then they all looked to Jenna.

“Don’t care as long as I don’t stay with that lot” she said, and there was no doubt who she meant by ‘that lot’.

“Okay, I’ll take over the watch now; the rest of you go to bed and when we speak to Bellamy tomorrow we’ll see what everyone there thinks.”

The next morning whilst they were taking a short break from the pyres Clarke told Kane about the attempted incursion in the night.

“Why didn’t you wake me to deal with it?” he asked exasperated.

“Because I didn’t need to, I dealt with it” Clarke replied equally exasperated. “If you think we are so incapable of dealing with things you really had no business sending us down here so, please, stop it.”

Kane was not happy with Clarke’s attitude and made sure to talk to Abby about it. It had not been good from the moment she had woken up after being shot, although perhaps being shot was part of the reason she was so snippy.

They finished all the pyres and graves. Clarke wanted an extra pyre built ready for should it ever be needed, a warning to the grounders (and, possibly, a warning to the people of Camp Jaha). Kane shook his head, but agreed that it would do no harm to have it done.

After lunch, Kane said that it was time for them to make their way back home and that everyone should pack up as much as they could carry.

“I’m staying” Clarke said. “I want to make a monument to those who died.”

“I’m staying because I want to carry on checking all the computer records” Monty said.

“I’m staying because I want to make sure Maya is remembered properly” Jasper said.

“Jenna and I are coming back with you” Nathan said with a significant look at Clarke to let her know that they would be back with the others.

“Okay, you two stay safe, and we will meet again soon” Clarke deliberately wanted Kane to get the impression that they would be returning to Camp Jaha soon.

Kane debated on whether to insist on them all returning together but thought it probably wasn’t worth trying. Clarke had already demonstrated that she can escape places and he had no doubt that if forced back before she wanted to she would leave again and it was likely that she would never return. He only hoped that Abby would understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 is the next chapter.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of what could have happened if Monty decided he was going to stay with Clarke after the fall of Mt Weather.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A frustrated Kane, a determined Abby, an even more determined Clarke, what could go wrong?

As soon as Kane was out of sight, Clarke asked Jasper if he wanted to make a marker for Maya’s grave now, or do it in winter when there wouldn’t be much else requiring his time because they had to build cabins before everyone else came. Jasper thought that he would look out for a suitable piece of wood and do it over winter.

“Good, because I think we can do a lot to prepare homes for our people very quickly with the tools they have here, and like you I thought about looking for the right piece of wood to carve and stain over winter for the general monument. Come on” and Clarke led a bemused Jasper to get the necessary gear before making for the tree line.

Monty, keeping an eye on the monitors while searching through the computer records and manning the radio, found something that gave him grave cause for concern. He used the radio to call Clarke and tell her what he found.

“Can you change the code so that it would be even more difficult to do set it off?” Clarke asked.

“Yeah, why? I mean who would set it off?”

“Some of the mountain people received bone marrow and I know that two people are missing going by the body count. We may find them later, but we can’t be sure that they are not out there waiting for their chance to get their own back so we eliminate, or substantially reduce one risk” Clarke answered.

“See, this is why you make a good leader” Jasper said. “No one else would ever have thought of that.” And Jasper’s acceptance of Clarke as a leader lessoned her anger.

Monty changed the access codes so that it would take a skilled hacker to use the mountain’s computer system.

Using a power saw, Clarke and Jasper soon had enough wood to build one cabin. Transporting it to the build site was the problem. They would need more assistance if they wanted to make substantial progress before the others arrived. They did manage to take the smaller branches back, the ones they would use to weave between the uprights. They also talked about what they wanted to do for their monuments to the mountain dead.

“I want to do a tall pyramid” Clarke said. “One side will be dedicated to the children, the innocent; another to those who wanted to help, the good; and the final side to those who either didn’t care or relished in the suffering they caused, the dark.”

“Ooh, that is good” Jasper agreed. “Maya loved music so I want to make some wind chimes, or pan pipes so when the wind blows over her grave, there’ll be music playing.”

“That is beautiful, Jasper.”

Once it was dark and they could no longer work outside, the three ate their supper in the control room so they could watch the monitors. 

“It looks like they’ve taken your words to heart and are staying away. Do you want to risk not watching tonight and all sleeping through the night?” Monty asked.

“No” Clarke said. “I’ll go to bed now, wake me up in four or five hours. See if you can find a way to transfer the screens to a tablet so whoever is watching is not stuck in here: you must want to get out of this room a bit more.”

Monty could only snort in agreement as Clarke waved over her shoulder and left to get some sleep.

It was almost dawn when the grounders made their attempt to enter the bunker this time. Clarke took the mic and again warned them away. “If you wish to talk to us, then come at a sensible time of the day. What you’re doing is plain irritating. Please leave, now.”

Luckily the grounders didn’t know that Clarke had no plan should they press their attack and did as she ordered and left. She knew they couldn’t keep going as they had, they needed to get the door fixed and more people to spread the load.

The next day brought a large contingent from Camp Jaha, including Bellamy with half a dozen other armed guards.

“No one guarding the camp then, I see” Clarke was snide. “I guess you don’t mind what happens there.”

“We’ve come to take you home, Clarke” Kane said. “We’ll also take as much as we can carry from here.”

“I’m not going back to that place, and if you force me you’ll end up having to kill me: that is a promise. You can certainly take some stuff from here; in fact we’ve been sorting what would be useful, and relatively easy to port” Clarke was very clear.

“We won’t kill you, Clarke: stop talking so childishly” Kane was exasperated.

“So when I constantly fight to leave, kill anyone who gets in my way, you will not execute me? Please, at least be honest about things. I am not going back. You will have to force me, and I will not go down without a fight. If you do manage to get me there, I will do everything I can to escape, even if that means killing to get away. So, why would you risk the lives of your people that way?”

“Clarke, you have to see that you can’t stay here, that you need to be with your people” Kane tried persuasion.

“I am 18, an adult. I ceased to be a citizen of the ARC when I was thrown away to die on earth, this point was only reiterated when I was shot as I tried to reach you. I have not needed you people for a long time. When I thought I did, you were not there for me so I learned to do things without you. Bearing in mind everything I said, are you going to try to force me back to Camp Jaha?”

“Not this time, no; but you can’t hide from your people forever, Clarke. In this uncertain world we need to be able to rely on each other” Kane gave in.

“You’re right; I need to be able to rely on people. You have proven that I can’t rely on you” Clarke pushed the dig. “Would you like some lunch before you go?”

Lunch, from the preserves of the mountain, of hot vegetable soup with some bread followed by preserved fruit and a cream like substance was served to all, and enjoyed by all. Clarke heard one of the guards muttering to another “If all the food they eat here is as good as this I get why they don’t want to leave.”

Bellamy kept giving Clarke smirks as she argued her point with Kane. He kept his distance so as not to alert Kane as to his true loyalties. He did manage to have a quick word with Jasper to tell him to look out for Octavia, Lincoln and Harper that night.

Lincoln was carrying Harper when they arrived in the early hours of the morning. Clarke almost suggested that Lincoln carry her to medical but, thankfully, asked that she be carried to a fairly neutral private room instead. Octavia said that Bellamy was hoping to persuade the Council to allow him to lead a contingent of the delinquents to the mountain to bring more stuff back to the camp so it would be helpful if things could be at hand for them to take back so they could spend some time doing work. They were starting to run out of things to take blankets and clothes wise, so Clarke looked through the stores for the Medical Centre and saw lots of things that they could spare for the camp, things she knew her mother lamented the lack of.

It was almost dusk when ten people arrived from the camp.

“I told them that it was so late that we would have to spend the night” Bellamy said with a smile. “Murphy and Monroe are the ones chosen to stay this time. So far no one has noticed that Harper left, and no one is surprised that Lincoln and Octavia left. I threw an appropriate tantrum that it is their fault for them leaving because they were made to feel so unwelcome by everyone, despite everything Lincoln had to give up to help rescue their people etcetera, etcetera. I think they bought the idea that I was pissed at them and were glad to have me bring a bunch of people here for a bit instead of leaving to go looking for Octavia. Raven suggested that I ask Monty to look at the schematics for this place because she is sure that there must a garage of vehicles somewhere that might help with pulling logs. Monroe suggested that the room with all the cages should be transformed into an indoor farm for animas during winter, I think she was thinking we could breed our own rabbits and chickens, things like that so we wouldn’t have to keep going out to hunt with all the risks that entails. Personally I like the hunt, but I think it would be a good idea to have something to fall back on.”

Clarke nodded her head in agreement wondering if there was a way for them to get some other animals, like goats, or cows.

They did indeed find some vehicles that could be used to help pull the logs to the proposed building site. Everyone agreed that it would be good to live by the water, but have the bunker to retreat to when the weather was too bad for them. They also liked the idea of being able to have hot showers and a working kitchen instead of having to cook everything over an open fire.

The next morning Bellamy, Murphy, Miller and Jasper went to try to work out how to get the vehicles working. They met with moderate success, but not in enough time to be useful to pull logs back to the mountain. It was Murphy who pointed out that he and a few others could do it once the rest had left. While they were working with the vehicles, Clarke, Octavia, Lincoln and Harper were fishing using a contrived net. Lincoln offered to make a proper net later. The others were wandering around the bunker working out how to make it theirs and rather than the previous occupants.

Of the ten that arrived, four left carrying a pack loaded with medical supplies, and four carried one of the crates from the harvest chamber loaded with works of art and some kitchen equipment between them.

The next surprise visitor was Kyle Wick accompanying just three delinquents. He said he was under instruction from Raven to make sure that the door was mended and to fix the fog machine so that it could disperse sleeping gas. Once they had done that job, they returned to the camp with some tools (that Wick said would come back with them), more medical supplies that they could easily make more of in the bunker and some food.

Raven spoke to Clarke over the radio and said that Bellamy and three others had gone to the drop ship to look for Harper McIntyre and Zoe Monroe who had been complaining that everyone looked at them so coldly and they wanted to go home, and they had not been seen since the previous day. Clarke was really disgusted that none of the so called adults had noticed their disappearance earlier. He was going to ‘discover their bodies’ and bury them there. The graves would be filled with logs so if they were checked up on, it would look realistic.

Bellamy then decided he and Nathan Miller were going to look for Octavia. They promised the Council that if they didn’t find her within two weeks, they would turn around and return to the camp so would be back no later than four weeks after they left, very probably sooner. Of-course they headed straight for the mountain where it could be seen that they were followed. Clarke and Monty went to meet them.

“Bellamy, Miller, what are you doing here” Clarke called loudly, hoping that it would carry to whoever was following. Then quietly she told the two that they were being followed as she hugged them both. They walked around to the other side of the mountain, where they had their settlement. The follower stayed out of eye sight but didn’t change their position. It was almost dusk when they left to make their way back to the camp. Clarke felt sorry for whoever it was because it didn’t look like they had brought any food or water with them.

The following day It took the whole team practically the whole morning to bring the tree trunk that was to be the main monument to the base of the mountain. They checked that the base was stable then moved it into the garage so that Clarke could work on it over winter.

After lunch it was planning time. Raven was still not up to the walk to the mountain so she would have to be carried on a litter that Wick and Raven had made while others would help carry their personal belongings, not that anyone had much. Miller thought that his dad would probably come with them since he could see how badly the delinquents were being treated and no one else seemed to think that there was anything wrong with that.

The following day they saw another contingent arriving from Camp Jaha made up of eight people. Operation hide everyone except Jasper, Monty and Clarke was put in place. Clarke was outside, apparently bringing logs from the woods when the contingent came into sight.

“Mother!” Clarke was surprised given Abby’s recent injuries from the forced marrow drills, although she probably shouldn’t have been given how determined Abby could be when she was certain of her rightness. “What are you doing here? If you’ve come to try to persuade me to return with you you’re out of luck.”

“Where’s Bellamy Blake and Nathan Miller?” Abby asked sans pleasantries.

“Hello, mother. Nice to see you too and I have no idea where they are” Clarke was less than honest.

“I know they are here. They came here two days ago and I want them back!” Abby was adamant, making Clarke pissed.

“Yes they came here two days ago. Bellamy said they were looking for Octavia. They had lunch with us and refused our invitation to stay a night or two, although they did say that if they had time on the way back they would stay, and went on, presumably into Blue Cliffs territory since Lincoln is banished from Trikru lands so they won’t be there.”

“No, I watched” said a young woman, Mel, Clarke thought. “I watched until dark and he didn’t leave.”

“Well if you were watching for them to leave in the same place they arrived, you wouldn’t see them” and Clarke emphasised the plural since Mel seemed focussed on the one. “They left across the dam, come on, I’ll show you.” Clarke led the party around the mountain to where their cabins were by the dam.

“We even have guest cabins that they could have used. Still at least we now have time to furnish them before expecting guests. We made a small bridge over the bomb damage so they could quickly and easily get into Blue Cliffs which is the other side of the water, I think. Since we’re not ready for so many extra people, we can’t stretch food intended for three to feed eleven, so I’m afraid I can’t offer you lunch before you leave, unless Jasper has caught more than one fish. Let me go and ask him” Clarke offered.

“No, don’t do that. He looks peaceful” Abby said.

“He is. When he first arrived he was so angry, and hurt, as was I. I think he is getting there, I know I am. Knowing that who he is and what he does is valued helps. Speaking of which, what the hell are you doing with my people?” Clarke went on the attack. “Bellamy said that they are kept in thin tents with no furs, hardly any food and no permission to go and get some. Is this true?”

“Everyone has rations, you know this, and we have no furs for them to have and it’s not safe for them to leave the camp to hunt” Abby was defensive.

“It’s not safe for them to stay with you if you’re starving and freezing them. He also said they only have crap jobs, like Nathan doing nothing except moving water from part of the camp to another. Who represents them on the Council?”

“They are not specifically represented, but everyone has to work and since they did not finish their education that is what they are qualified to do” Abby was so sure she was in the right.

“I think they are the most qualified of all your campers in earth skills and would be more effective putting their skills to use to feed you.”

“Clarke, you are not in charge. They are lucky to have jobs and to be fed. They are nothing but criminal delinquents and cannot possibly be put in positions of responsibility. Now why don’t you, Jasper and Monty get your things together and come back home with us today?”

Clarke stared at her mother in amazement. How could Abby possibly think that Clarke would return to Camp Jaha like nothing was wrong?

“I, like Jasper, find it peaceful here. I am not going back to sleep in a flimsy tent, do a crappy job for practically no rations so I starve and freeze. No, here I have peace and quiet, all the food I can eat, and do work that fulfils me. Before you ask, I am making a monument to the mountain dead.”

“But you could work in the med bay with me and have your room in the station” Abby seemed to think that being held above her people would entice her.

“You think that I could stay there in the warm whilst I could see my friends freezing? You really don’t know me at all. Please leave, now. I might come back with Bellamy and Nathan, but don’t hold your breath. Goodbye mother.” Clarke turned around and went into her cabin before leaving with a rifle to head into the woods, making it look like she was hunting.

The party from Camp Jaha left empty handed.

Clarke and Co were later joined by Ogden and Freya, two more orphans who had no one to notice they were no longer there. Wick was going to turn up at some point ostensibly to look for a specific tool but in reality to oversee Jasper’s bomb making so that they could blow the tunnel entrance to the bunker at the same time as blow another hole to make a different tunnel entrance that they could hide from everyone that they didn’t want to know. 

After talking some more about how things were for the delinquents, Clarke and Bellamy decided that they couldn't wait any longer to get their people out of the camp: it was getting colder and Raven said they were really freezing. Armed with tranquiliser rifles, over 100 fish and other foods and a whole lot of indignation; Clarke, Bellamy and half their people already at the mountain (the other half left to guard the place, just in case) left to bring the rest of their people to their new home.

They arrived after dark and waited for the signal to shoot the guards on watch. Because of his job, Bellamy knew exactly where they would be so they could each be individually targeted. On receipt of the signal the rifles fired and down went the guards. The gap in the fence was opened and Raven led out all the remaining 100, and Wick, David Miller, Eric Jackson, Jacapo Sinclair, Greer Olsen and Ella Holmes.

“I’m not staying with you yet” said Ella. “I’m just going to make sure you all get away safely then switch the electricity back on. I’ll keep the radio with me and notify you of anything noteworthy, you do the same. Stay safe.”

With Raven loaded onto the litter, the fish and other food taken in and left in a prominent place, they thanked Ella for her assistance “Don’t worry, I shall probably see you soon” she said and made their way to where they had left the vehicles so that they didn’t have to walk the whole way.

It was nowhere near as early as they thought it would be before the people of Camp Jaha came to try to take their people back. Clarke didn’t know whether it took that long for their absence to be noted, or if there were arguments as to whether they should bother. They prepared their defences as directed by Bellamy and David Miller and waited.

Abby stormed round to where there were miraculously a lot more cabins and demanded that everyone pack up and return to Camp Jaha.

The sound of rifles being cocked, prepared to fire echoed in the silence.

“You are surrounded by armed people who really do not want to do what you say” Clarke said with her own rifle pointed securely at her mother. “Please lower all your weapons and then we shall do the same.”

“Stand your ground, guards. They won’t fire on their own people” Abby was sure.

“You have until I count to three” Clarke stated. “One. Two. Three. Feet!” and everyone bar Clarke shot at the guards’ feet. Four went down injured. “You were saying. My snipers are safe. Now, tell your guards to lower their weapons.”

Abby looked around and could see that her guards could not attack the snipers. She had underestimated her daughter, yet again. Abby nodded to the guards to lower their weapons. They did.

“Now, hands in the air” Clarke demanded and all hands, bar Abby’s were raised. Octavia and Murphy walked around collecting all the guards’ guns and searching for other weapons. That done, Clarke handed her rifle to Murphy while she went to search her mother. She found three syringes of what looked like sedatives. “Really mother, drugging me to get your own way. I hope you don’t find you need these in the future.”

“Clarke, I just want you to come home, baby” Abby tried the tearful route.

“Then you should not have thrown me away. We are no longer your prisoners, no longer your children, no longer your concern. We shall do what we need to do to save our people, the remains of the 100 and the others who have chosen to join us. You need to worry about saving the remains of your people. The facilities in the camp are not good and you are allowing people to die because you can’t accept that we grew up and know what we’re doing. You will either freeze, starve or sicken over winter and as things stand with you, I’m not sure how many will make it to spring. I refuse to be a victim of your arrogance or let others suffer when they don’t have to. We’ll take you close to your camp. Please don’t come back unless it’s just to visit.”

All the guards, excepting Ella who was staying (a little earlier than she had planned, but she didn’t know when another opportunity would arise), had their hands tied behind their backs. Abby was gagged as well as bound. They were loaded onto the back of a truck and driven to within a mile of the camp where they were unceremoniously dumped. 

Abby never did return to Mt Sky and Clarke never returned to Camp Jaha. They met somewhere between the two places and kept in touch by radio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shortly after this I picture Echo and her Emmerson led Azgedan team turning up and being thoroughly routed through the sleeping gas. Instead of returning to Azgeda to face the likely punishment for failure, I imagine Echo deciding to stay with Skaikru and for it to lead to Becho.
> 
> I also pictured Jaha and ALIE having no luck with the people of the mountain and it becoming a safe haven for those, like Indra, who refused to take the chip. Naturally they would somehow have been able to discover the forthcoming death wave themselves and would have survived safely tucked away in Mt Sky.


	3. Clarke Chooses not to go Into Cryo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As everyone gets ready to settle into ten year's of cryo sleep, Clarke decides not to join them and to ask Madi if she wants to stay awake and age while everyone else sleeps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When they thought that they would only need to be in cryo for ten years, why didn't someone say that they wanted to stay awake? Sure it wasn't possible for everyone to, but a good few could and I'm surprised that some didn't want to spend some time awake without fighting.   
Although Monty and Harper decided to stay awake, why didn't they tell their friends so that maybe more would stay with them or at least say their goodbyes?  
I know, logic has little to do with the 100!

Whilst everyone was preparing to go into cryo Clarke was remembering that Monty said that the ship could not support all the survivors, meaning, she assumed, that it could support some. That meant that she could stay awake, possibly with Madi for some of it to allow her, Madi, to age, mature, be more likely to be taken seriously by the surviving Eligius crew than she would currently. She would think on that a little more before making a decision for Madi, or perhaps, Clarke thought, she should talk to Madi and let her make the decision for herself since she had the wisdom of the former commanders in her head? Clarke almost laughed at that moment of personal growth.

“Hey, Madi, can I talk to you privately for a minute, please?” Clarke asked respectfully since she was in the presence of some of her people and even though everyone knew that Clarke was in effect Madi’s mother, Madi was still the Commander.

“Yes of-course. I’ll see you all when we wake up” Madi said as she took Clarke’s arm to go somewhere private to talk. “What is it Clarke? You have that ‘I’m not sure this is a good idea but I’m gonna do it anyway’ look on your face.”

“The ship can support some people indefinitely. I’m not going into cryo. I’ll stay awake and check on everything, make sure everything goes to plan. I wanted to ask if you also want to stay awake so that you can age, and appear more mature to the people of Eligius who would find it so much easier to respect and follow the orders of an adult since they don’t have the knowledge or respect for the flame. I know it is not as simple as that, but I wanted to offer it to you as an option to consider before deciding on cryo” Clarke said. “As someone who loves you very much, I should like to spend a little time with you without war getting in the way again, but I know that you have much greater concerns now.”

Madi stood and paced as she thought, as she listened to the voices of the previous Commanders.

“I will stay awake for a while, length yet to be determined. I also want Octavia to be awake for a while so she can help me train and to help her recover from her time as Blodreina. I imagine she will want to go into cryo after a relatively short period of time. I should also like Diyoza to remain awake so that I can talk to her and get to know the rest of the Eligius people through her. Can we go and talk to them now?” Madi asked.

Clarke and Madi went to grab both Octavia and Diyoza before they went under. “Can we talk to the pair of you?” Madi asked and led them out of the cryo room for some privacy. “Clarke is not going into cryo. I am of the view that I should not as well, at least for a while. I would find it easier to secure the loyalty of the Eligius people if I were a little older, and I would like you, Diyoza to help me get to know your people, not just the information that is on the file, but your view of them before you go under, and Octavia, I should like you to help me train for a while. I am sure that you can help me improve or at the very least keep me on my toes while I am awake.”

Octavia and Diyoza looked at each other, both surprised at the request.

“It’ll be an all girls club!” Diyoza said. “There is one thing, I was thinking about it earlier and wondering if and who I should ask, but I do want to stay awake until after Hope is born and not put her into cryo if I don’t have to; would you have a problem with me being up the whole ten years?”

“I wouldn’t” said Clarke.

“I don’t know that I would want to stay awake for ten years on this place, it would be almost as bad as being stuck in the bunker although less crowded and nowhere near as stressful, but I certainly have no problem with staying awake for some of the time, if that is your wish Heda” Octavia said.

“So we’re agreed” Clarke declared, “the four of us will stay awake for at least some of the time, if not the whole ten years.”

“Let’s go tell the others” Madi rushed towards the cryo chamber only to find everyone except Harper and Monty already under.

“Come on, you four, we have your beds ready” Monty said, clearly feeling some pressure.

“Monty, Harper, we’re not going under. The ship can support us so we’ll stay awake and monitor everything so that we can be sure that nothing goes wrong, or if it does, between us, we know who to wake” Clarke said.

Monty and Harper looked at each other and all became clear.

“You aren’t planning on going under either, are you?” Clarke asked.

“I know you weren’t on the Ring, none of you” Monty began, “but we loved that time. It was peaceful; no battles; no wars; no wondering about right or wrong; just peace and staying alive. We want that peace again because we don’t see how it will be maintained once everyone is awake so we want to enjoy it while we can.”

“And, like you, we think it a good idea to have someone to monitor things” Harper added to make sure they didn’t sound too selfish.

“I know what you mean” Diyoza said. “I have been fighting for so long that I barely remember what it is like to live in peace. I think it would be nice.”

“Can it support the six and a half of us” Octavia asked.

“Easily, as long as you don’t mind algae” Monty said. “Not very tasty, but very nutritious.”

“Well, if it gets too bad we can always choose to go to sleep” Madi said. “Captain, what do you recommend be the first order of business?” she looked to Diyoza.

“Thank you, Commander. I suggest that someone goes to sort out the food issue, someone goes to check over and prepare the med bay, someone or someones go to clean up in the transporter ship, someone sorts out accommodations and clothes for us all and someone starts a video log” Diyoza respected Madi’s position and by her wording subtly bowed to her.

“Monty, can you sort out the food issue, let us know if there will be any problems; Clarke, obviously, please go and check on the med bay, Octavia and Harper, can you two please make sure the transporter is clean, we’ll come and find you when Diyoza and I have sorted the accommodations and some clothes for us all and started a log; thank you” Madi said with a nod and left with Diyoza.

“Hey, slow down, kid; I can’t waddle as fast as you walk, and I do know where the best rooms are” Diyoza said.

Madi calmed down and waited for Diyoza to catch up. “Sorry, it’s just that I’m excited. It will be so nice to be able to relax and only be the Commander for very short periods and Madi for the rest of the time.”

“Yeah, I get that. Here, you should have this room; it’s the Captain’s suite. The two either side are the next best, Clarke and I can have one each, and the others can have the rooms opposite, that way we’re all relatively close should we be needed. The clothes are all very boring, I’m afraid” and Diyoza went to a room where she grabbed some clothes and she and Madi deposited some in the relevant rooms.

The Captain and Commander’s log was very straight forward. Madi set out why she decided not to go into cryo and Diyoza noted the set tasks. They then went to the transporter ship to help with the cleaning where they were soon joined by Monty.

When they were finished they went to find Clarke only to discover she was still cleaning the area outside the med bay that still had a lot of blood stains on the floor.

“The med bay has been sanitized, it’s just this bit now” Clarke said as she carried on cleaning.

When that was done, Madi went to show them their rooms.

‘Captain Charmaine’ was the name marked on the first door. “What? If everyone else is going by their first name then I want to, too” she said on seeing the puzzled looks.

‘Commander Madi’ was the second door.

‘Deputy Commander Clarke’ was the third. “What, Madi, why?” Clarke asked.

“Because you are my closest advisor, and I want it known that if anything happens to me that you are next in charge. It is something that I should have thought of before. It was Lexa and Becca who approved when I thought of you” Madi said.

On the other side of the corridor, the room was marked ‘Champion Octavia’.

The next room ‘Deputy Captain Monty’.

The final room was marked ‘Counsellor Harper’. “We know you and Monty will probably share, but we wanted you to have somewhere where you can talk to people in private because we know that you will be the person we all will come to sometimes and you should be able to talk to them without fear” Madi said. “There will be times when people need to vent emotionally and I would like them to know that they have someone with whom they can do that in full confidence that they will not be judged for it and it will be kept confidential. Only if you suspect someone is actively a risk or at risk should you talk, and then it should be to minimise the risk not punishment.”

“Niylah played that role in the bunker” Octavia said. “It probably would have been the right thing for me to acknowledge the importance of it in such a way, and to encourage others to talk to her rather than bottle in their feelings. Bellamy said that you were often the rock on the Ring.”

“Thank you” Harper said. “I never thought of me having a title of any sort, so thank you. I hope I never let any of you down.”

The rest of the day was everyone getting used to the feel of the ship, the permanent hum, the layout of the rooms they will use and the reordering of the gym so that training for all, not just Madi, could take place safely. Octavia would be given plenty of opportunities to work through her feelings of anger and disassociation.

Harper was surprised that her first official counselling visit was by Octavia. Octavia spent the first few minutes pacing up and down before she stopped, looked at Harper and asked “Why doesn’t everyone hate me?”

Harper thought for a minute before replying. “I can’t answer for anyone else; you will need to ask them. I can tell you why I don’t hate you if you want to know.”

Octavia sat down. “Okay, tell me why you don’t hate me.”

“Because sometimes good people do bad things, often for the best of intentions. I don’t hate Bellamy, I don’t hate Clarke, I don’t hate Charmaine, I don’t hate Jaha. I think the closest I come to hating someone is Cage Wallace. He did something to me personally. Maybe someone in Wonkru would have reason to hate you, I don’t know, but I don’t think anyone here suffered at your hand direct.”

“I prepared to execute Clarke, and after Madi was given the flame I sent an assassin after the pair of them to take them out” Octavia confessed.

“Okay, I can understand why Clarke and Madi might hate you, but they don’t appear to. Why don’t you ask them? I would be happy to be a go between for you if you need one but I don’t think you will. If you ask, I am sure that they will answer honestly. You know that Clarke has good reason to hate Charmaine, but she doesn’t, or she hides it very well” Harper offered.

“I know, I guess, Clarke is strange like that. But that doesn’t explain Monty, Charmaine and Madi. Bellamy hates me and he has always loved me. I forgave him for his part in Lincoln’s death, but it seems he’s forgotten that. It’s almost as if the six years apart has wiped out his past, or at least his memory of it.”

“Well, perhaps when we wake him up we can talk to him about it, perhaps remind him that he too has done things that he isn’t proud of, some of which resulted in great pain for you. And perhaps remind him that he went against you and put you in a coma” Harper spoke of the things that led to Bellamy being placed in the pit.

“No, he, they were right to try to haul me back, to stop me. It didn’t do any good in the end, but they were right to try” Octavia said.

“Then perhaps that is something that you need to tell Bellamy and Clarke. You can’t force Bellamy to forgive you for whatever he holds against you, any more than he could force you to forgive him for his part in Lincoln’s death. Perhaps you do need to know what it is exactly that he holds against you so you can either come to terms with the loss of your brother’s love and respect, or decide to tell him your side of your decisions and give him the time he needs to come to terms with it. He also needs to accept the fact that you are his younger sister, but not his baby sister, nor his responsibility; and that you, like him, are not perfect. Remember, sometimes good people make crappy decisions. I remember hearing Kane say once to Bellamy that you turn the page and hope to do better tomorrow; so regardless of Bellamy’s feelings, they are outside of your control, focus on you and your feelings and growth.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I need to leave Bellamy to Bellamy, and focus on me. Thanks, Harper, I think I’ll talk to Clarke next, bye.”

Harper almost felt sorry for Octavia, she would have hated to have been put in the position Octavia was when she was only 17, and without any training or history in leadership. As she thought about it, it was amazing that more than two thirds of the people who went into the bunker came out, and for them all to be so loyal to Octavia, even knowing that what she was asking of them would likely lead to their deaths, it was an accomplishment that should not be undervalued, and it means that not all the decisions Octavia took were bad ones; in fact some must have been damned good.

Octavia did decide to talk to Clarke about the lack of malice towards her. It was something that puzzled her a great deal since she herself had never hidden her own animosity to Clarke for making what she thought were bad decisions.

“I remember telling Bellamy that the fact that you were able to unify the clans so definitively was very impressive, and it is. I know that you had to make some awful decisions, some that would aid the unification, some that would harm it, but all intended to make sure that as many people as possible survived until we were able to get you out. I know that sometimes there are no good choices and in trying to choose the least awful option you might get it wrong. Or maybe the other choice would have turned out to be even worse but there is no real way to be sure. All you can do is try to make the best decision based on the information you have at the time. You’re human, Octavia. I don’t hold it against you that you made mistakes. I don’t like some of the things you did and if you had succeeded in killing or hurting Madi then it would be different, but as long as Madi is good, then I’m good, I promise. If nothing else I’ll take great pleasure in trying to kick your ass in training” Clarke smiled at her erstwhile murderer.

“Yeah, thanks. I’m very impressed with how much you taught Madi; she is very good. I didn’t know you were so good.”

“Lexa taught me, and then when we were in the City of Light the Commanders taught me through the flame. And, to be honest, there were times when there wasn’t anything else to do except train so we trained a lot. Madi wants people to recognise and remember what you, Octavia, achieved in saving then uniting the clans and to let Blodreina live on only in peoples’ memories. In time much of what Blodreina did will become nothing but folklore, as long as people see Octavia, she is the one that will be remembered most.”

“Like Wanheda and Clarke?” Octavia asked.

“Exactly.”

Next on Octavia’s list of people to talk to was Madi. In many ways Madi was hardest; Octavia had tried to use her, and then kill her: Madi should hate her.

“Do you think Lexa was able to unite the Clans without a lot of bloodshed? Even then there were many who wanted to break the coalition. I hold nothing that you did before kneeling to me against you, nothing. As long as you are loyal now, I cannot and will not hate you, nor will I tolerate anyone being disrespectful to you in my presence, and that goes for Bellamy and his family, too. I needed to step in to stop their poor treatment of Clarke since she won’t remind them of all their poor choices for which she offered immediate forgiveness, and I will do the same for you and Charmaine. You are now my people and I will protect you.”

Finally, Octavia went to talk to Diyoza: it felt awkward calling her Charmaine.

“Don’t worry about it” Charmaine said. “We’ve all done bad things and to me the biggest sin is hypocrisy so I won’t hold anything against you. We’re good.”

“Is it really that simple for you?” Octavia was surprised.

“Yeah, it is. We now need to be one people since there’s not enough of us left to fight anymore. The rest of our people will have a difficult time integrating and it is up to us as leaders, all of us, to lead by example. You don’t have to agree with decisions made to respect the strength it took to make them. I saw how your people adored you, willingly sacrificed themselves for you; you just have to remember that sacrifice and continue to strive to be worthy of it.”

“Bellamy hates me” Octavia gave voice to her greatest woe.

“Yeah well, between you and me, I think your brother is a bit of an ass. Besides, you me and Clarke, we make one hell of a team and if we can forgive and forget, Bellamy can either join the party or go …”

“… float himself!” Octavia laughed at that and, thus, a measure of true healing began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of this will follow next week.


	4. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens to the gang who have decided to stay awake? Can Clarke, Charmaine and Octavia bury the hatchet and get along? Will Monty and Harper cope with being in close confines with potentially warring factions and not living in the peace they had hoped for? What do they do when they realise that their Eden is not coming back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to anyone opposed to sperm donation, IVF and single parents - you may want to skip this chapter.

“Dammit, Charmaine!” Clarke said, “you need to stop pushing and breathe through the next contraction while I try and free her. I don’t know about your sexual practices, but I hope you have no problem with fisting because I have to go in!”

The umbilical cord had wrapped itself around baby Hope’s neck and Clarke had to push Hope back up into the uterus and unwrap the cord, and then guide her out again. Once Hope was safely in the birth canal then Clarke could remove her hands.

“It’s a good job I keep my nails short” Clarke went for a little lightness.

“You know if I didn’t like you so much I would kill you right now?” Charmaine said through the pain.

“Yeah, yeah. Right, at the next contraction, push again” Clarke ordered.

After much screaming and crying, baby Hope Diyoza was safely delivered. She was cleaned, weighed and measured and put to her mother’s breast where she fed, vigorously.

“I am so proud of you” Madi said. “The pair of you, you were great. When are you going to have one, Harper?”

“Ermm, well, after seeing and hearing that, never” Harper replied.

“I tell you, this feeling as she suckles, is worth every moment of stress and pain” Charmain said. “I can’t describe it, but there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her; nothing I wouldn’t go through for her, to have safe here in my arms. There is no feeling like it.”

“I know what you mean” Clarke said as she hugged Madi, now 13, to her.

“Does that mean you’re up for having one, Clarke? I think I would make an awesome big sister, and Hope will be a great cousin, but she could do with someone near her own age” Madi enthused.

“Since there are no men except Monty, and I don’t think Harper would be terribly happy at the idea of giving me his sperm, I think I’m going to have to pass for a while” Clarke said.

“Actually” Charmaine spoke with a smug look that said she was going to amaze them, “there is some frozen sperm of seven of the men who were terminally ill with the metallic cancer. It was taken in case the treatment made them infertile. Even though they’re dead, their sperm isn’t. I can tell you about them so you know who would make good babies.”

Although Clarke was not too keen on the idea, everyone else was. The clincher came when Octavia said “If you do it, I will”.

Clarke and Octavia narrowed down their choices to two each. They made their final decision based on their photographs. Octavia chose a man who could have been Lincoln’s ancestor, while Clarke chose a man who was the male equivalent of her – blond hair, blue eyes, in the hope that when people met her child they would think that he/she took after their mother.

Clarke went through the procedure first: three embryos were placed in her uterus by Harper. Three weeks later, three were placed in Octavia. It was then a wait to see if any of them took. 

“Yes!” Clarke said. “I am pregnant. It is too early to tell how many, and really too early to celebrate, but for now, I am pregnant.”

There were lots of congratulations and in celebration, Monty brought out some moonshine for everyone to drink, well, he and Harper and Madi and everyone enjoyed some fruits from their newly flourishing farm.

Octavia too was pregnant and once again there were muted celebrations while they waited in hope to go past the first trimester.

When Clarke was 12 weeks pregnant, everyone crowded around the bed while Harper manoeuvred the ultrasound wand. It didn’t take long to pick out two live foetuses. It was too soon to tell their genders, but they were both definitely moving around and apparently at the appropriate size.

“My goodness, you’re pregnant, Clarke, you’re really pregnant” Harper cried.

“I’m going to be a two times big sister! Thank you Clarke” Madi said as she hugged her mom. “Can I pick their names?”

Clarke laughed. “No, but you do get veto rights. I’ve already thought, Estelle for a girl, Terran for a boy. I need to think of one more for each in case it’s two of the same. What do you think, Mads?”

“I think they are perfect, but can we have Luna and River as the fall backs?”

Thinking of Luna who gave Clarke her nightblood, Clarke agreed with Madi’s choices for the second boy or girl.

Three weeks later Octavia had her ultrasound. This time there was only the one foetus.

“Thank goodness” Octavia declared. “I think one at a time is all I could manage.”

“I am amazed at how nice this time is” Monty said to Harper as they were cuddling on their bed. “I wasn’t sure how it would turn out with Clarke, Octavia and Charmaine awake, but it has been nice. I think they are going to turn out to be best friends. Which is great for anyone on their side, not so good for anyone going against them.”

“Yeah, they now have someone who understands them, something that the rest of us can’t give them. It is nice to see Clarke so happy. When we first landed we saw a happy Octavia, but I don’t ever remember seeing Clarke so happy” Harper said.

“No, I think she always felt that she had the weight of the 100 on her shoulders from the day we landed and she had to take care of Jasper, and when she put it down for a bit of a rest, Bellamy and Pike added to it and lobbed it straight back at her. Now Clarke is first and foremost a mom and for the present she doesn’t have to worry about her daughter’s life.”

Clarke held her son, Terran, while Madi was holding Estelle. The twins were born on different days, 24 minutes apart and were currently just over a day old.

“It is amazing how much Estelle looks like you, while Terran somehow looks like me” Madi said.

“Well both my parents have brown and brown and it’s quite possible that their donor’s parents also had brown and brown genes. It doesn’t matter, but I’m glad you won’t have to feel left out by us all being blonde and blue. Child minding duties will not excuse you from training or studying, though since they are both important.”

“Yeah, about that, Clarke. Octavia thinks she is just about at the limit of what she can teach me about clan culture and the Commanders only teach what they want me to know. I’m not saying it needs to be now, but at some point I will need Indra, Emori and Echo, and for someone from the other clans. I think I want to start with Indra. It can wait until we’re closer to waking everyone up ‘coz I don’t expect they will want to go back to sleep and in the meantime I can concentrate on learning everything that is in the library of this ship and on what Charmaine can teach me about Eligius and Becca. I need to merge what I know of Becca Praimheda and Becca Franco into one person and be able to understand everything Raven tells me, and everything I ask of her, the same with Monty, and Charmaine. The more I know, the fewer mistakes I’ll make.”

Clarke took a deep breath as she accepted what Madi said. “Since I am the Deputy Commander, you should try to teach me as much as you can about the clans and the history of Eligius. I’ll try to take some lessons from Monty, too so that I won’t let you, or our people down.”

“I love you, Clarke and I know you won’t” Madi smiled. “I can’t wait for Abraham to be born, three little babies and one big one!”

“So we’re agreed then, that only with hindsight can we even accept the possibility of forcing the dissenters into cannibalism as being wrong, and that given the information that Octavia had at the time it was definitely the correct choice?” Charmaine asked.

Everyone else nodded their head in agreement.

“Good, that concludes this DA. The next one will be Chaired by Octavia and we will discuss Clarke’s decision to kill some of my men when we landed. Unless giving birth gets in the way, we’ll reconvene in 28 days, same time, same place” Charmaine closed the meeting.

“Do you think you are learning anything from these DAs Madi?” Harper asked.

“Yes, I think the most important lesson I am learning is that what Clarke once told me is so true, ‘sometimes there are no good choices and all you can do is to try to pick the least crappy choice and accept the consequences whilst hoping for a forgiving God’. I think it is so bad of people to judge when they don’t have to make the choices. Thank you for suggesting we do, this Harper. It has taught me a lot, and I think it has made Clarke, Charmaine and Octavia even closer as they bond over having to make crappy choices” Madi said.

“No, I think Monty and I have learned a lot, too. We thought that it might be a good idea to show some of the recordings to certain people if they can’t get their heads out of their asses when they’re woken up, although they might be pig headed enough to still hold their grudges. You know, having these three people who have made so many awful choices because they couldn’t see a good option available to choose, the consequences of which were felt by at least one of the other two, yet they are getting to be as close as sisters, is going to help you be the most awesome commander there ever was. You will learn from each of them and they will help you unite all your people. Thank you for allowing Monty and I to share in these lessons, Heda” Harper said in respect.

It was Harper who having listened to everyone question their past decisions suggested that they all gather together and talk as a group about the decision, what led to it, the choices available and their likely consequences, and the consequences of the decision made. The idea was that they would try to decide if, with the benefit of hindsight, a different decision should have been made, or if the best of the available options was chosen. It was not intended to make the decision maker feel bad, but to learn for the future. Out of the three decisions they had discussed so far, only one had they felt had been the wrong one at the time: Charmaine’s decision to torture Clarke and the people of Spacekru, and even then, they agreed that it was only with the benefit of hindsight because Charmaine had no way to know that Clarke was speaking the truth and that none of them had any way of knowing what had become of the people in the bunker.

Harper stroked her burgeoning belly as she thought about the things said in these Decision Analysis meetings and was so grateful to be spared the burdens of leadership.

Eight years had passed since the majority of the people were put into cryo. The five children were in bed asleep and the six adults were pondering the view outside the observation deck.

“There are no signs of any return to life in Eden, nor any signs of greenery that we can see, and if it was going to recover in ten years, there should be something by now” Monty said. Monty, who although was only 30 looked so much older with the strain of trying to will life onto the earth.

For a few minutes everyone thought about Monty’s words, and his implication.

“Charmaine, did you orbit the earth at this altitude when you first came back or did you get a closer look?” Clarke asked.

“We stayed at this distance, why?”

“I think we need to get a closer look, see if anywhere on the earth is recovering. I do not for one moment think that we were lucky enough to find the single spot on earth that the death wave skipped over. There must be other spots with similar geographic markers. Perhaps they weren’t big enough for you to see before, but they’ve had more than eight extra years to recover and grow and I think we should look. Eight years ago there were no seas or lakes, now there are, and now there may be green land. ALIE did say that 96% of the earth would be uninhabitable and there is no way that Shallow Valley is 4% of the earth.”

They all looked to Madi. “Can we take a closer look?” she asked.

“Yes, but we’ll need a pilot. We’ll have to wake Shaw. Can we afford another mouth to feed?” Charmaine asked.

“Yes, but us adults will need to eat one meal of algae a day again until the farm output increases. I was going to start that anyway so I could put some into the freezer for when people woke up” Monty replied.

“Okay, Charmaine, can you go and wake Shaw and explain the full situation to him and us adults will have an algae bar for our evening meals so the children don’t see us eat different food to them and wonder what is going on” Madi declared.

Zeke Shaw was astounded to wake up to discover that Diyoza, Clarke and Blodreina were apparently best buds and all united behind the child, well now young adult, Commander; and that there were five children living aboard the ship because their parents had chosen not to go into cryo. He had a shower, got dressed, ate a small meal and went to the bridge.

Looking at the pictures of Eden and its surrounding areas Zeke had to agree that there were no apparent signs of life and that the best bet was to get a closer look. He input the information on Eden into the computer and it said that the most likely places to find similar green spots was in the southern hemisphere. He took the ship closer to earth and moved so they could oversee South America.

There were no green spots but the Amazon river was now visible so there was hope that soon the Amazon rain forest would regrow. If necessary they could take the transporter ship down for a really close look. The soil could be fertile enough that they could plant things from the farm, make a start.

They then skipped over to New Zealand where they saw a distinct green spot. It was nowhere near as large as Eden was, but it was definitely there. They noted the location and moved to Australia – nothing. Southern Asia – nothing. Southern Africa – nothing. It was back to New Zealand.

The seven adults were discussing the best way to go down to the green spot and check for signs of animal life whilst being safe and not causing any harm. Madi wanted to be the first one down there but she, reluctantly, agreed that it was essential that she be awake to lead the integration of the people. It was finally agreed that the best bet was for Zeke to pilot the transporter ship and land just off from the green spot and for Clarke to camp outside with a sign saying ‘Hello, we come in peace’ in both Maori and English. Waiting in the ship with Zeke would be Monty and Octavia. If there was no apparent response to Clarke’s presence then Monty and Octavia would join Clarke on a brief exploration while Zeke made sure that he could always get the transporter back to the home ship.

Monty found it very difficult to say his, hopefully, temporary farewells to his family, but he at least knew that Jordan would be safe with his mother to look after him. Octavia asked Harper to look after Abraham in her absence whilst Madi and Charmaine were given the responsibility of looking after Estelle and Terran.

With a very strong feeling of déjà vu, Clarke used the radio to keep in touch with everyone while she was camping outside the transporter ship. The ship’s sensors had detected some signs of animal life, but nothing that appeared to be life threatening, but still they stayed on their guard. With no signs of reaction to their presence, Octavia and Monty joined Clarke to look around and take samples to test for radiation.

They came across the remains of a village right near the edge of the green spot. There were about 75 skeletons, not quite clean, but no signs of recent human habitation. After consultation with Madi, they agreed that they would bury the skeletons just outside the green spot, by the ship. After that was done, they took the samples for testing and when the results were in called a meeting.

“So this is it?” Madi asked. “This is our new Eden, definitely?”

“Yes” Monty asserted. “The soil is fertile, the fruits and nuts are safe to eat as are the bugs, but I recommend that we do not try the birds for a while until there are a lot more of them. We can live off algae and soya to supplement what is currently there. We cannot wake everyone at once, there is not yet enough to sustain us all, but we can encourage growth and gradually increase our numbers. We can build to the north of the current village to expand so we don’t kill off more of Eden then we have to.”

“I think we shouldn’t go down until we have an integrated mixed group of around 100 living in peace on the ship” Charmaine said. “We should also make sure that all firearms are locked away somewhere so that there are no weapons of multiple destruction available.”

“Since this ship can support 100, I agree” Madi said. “We should each choose one person to wake tomorrow, and then once we’re all happy together, we wake more. Monty, can you please focus on getting the farm working to full capacity, taking who you need to help?” On receiving Monty’s nod of agreement Madi spoke to Harper. “Can you get to know the history of everyone’s choice to wake so you can prepare for any issues that might arise? It might be better in the long run if we can get the difficult ones sorted sooner while there are so few of us.”

“I agree” Harper said “so for that reason I am going to choose to waken Bellamy.”

Octavia snorted. “If we’re going for difficult then I’m choosing Miller, but not before all the firearms are locked away.”

“Clarke, who do you choose and will you need help with the med bay?” Madi asked half in jest.

“We may need to waken my mother and since she is a recovering addict and will therefore be difficult I choose to get that one over with and choose her” Clarke said.

When everyone else had made their choice, Madi said “I am going to waken Indra and Echo, and Octavia, I want you to choose someone from all the other clans, excepting Shallow Valley, who are not likely to be difficult, but helpful to me.”

“Erm, Madi, I think Echo is going to be difficult” Harper said.

“Not if she knows what’s good for her, and anyway, is there anyone from former Azgeda who would not be difficult in these circumstances?” No one could find fault with that point.

“So it’s really going to be 100 of us going back to earth to colonise and repopulate?” Bellamy asked.

“Well, 100 to start off with” Madi clarified. “It will be hard work, preparing the land, building homes getting ready to accept and welcome more people, making sacrifices for them. I will choose the first 100 only when I am sure that they will be the people I need them to be so it will be up to you, and everyone, to prove to me that you have moved on from your old loyalties, distrusts and anger. Groups of around 50 will go down there after when they and the ground are ready. We are all one people and if you cannot, for whatever reason, embrace that concept then you will always have the option to stay up here.”

“I look forward to being part of the new 100 being sent to earth, but I must ask, will Octavia return with the immortal words … ?”

“We’re back bitches!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, Shallow Valley the only spot of earth that wasn't destroyed by the death wave? Since the southern hemisphere has no mega reactors, less land and more water to cool the wave I thought it more likely that it would have less power there which is why I chose a part of New Zealand to find the next viable spot. I hope you don't mind that I completely veered away from the 125 sleep idea.
> 
> In case it wasn't clear, DA = Decision Analysis.


	5. Aurora Chooses to Talk Options for her Second Pregnancy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story has many dark areas. Nothing is graphic but it touches on the subject of abortion. If this is something that you feel you cannot read about then skip down to the part after the ****** divider.
> 
> If there was no Octavia, how would Clarke's time on earth differ? How would Bellamy's life develop? We learn about the second question in part 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING - SUBJECT OF ABORTION IS DISCUSSED
> 
> IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO READ THIS SECTION, SKIP TO THE ****** DIVIDER

WARNING: ABORTION

Aurora Blake knew that she was pregnant. She didn’t know how she could be since she had her implant replaced less than four months previous, but she was sure she was actually pregnant, again. She knew that she would have to have an abortion, something she was vehemently opposed to. Perhaps she could offer up her life if the life of her child could be spared. Aurora needed to speak to someone who could give her some advice as to her options.

“Ms Blake, I can’t tell you what to do” the young Dr Abby Griffin said, “but I can tell you what will happen if you go ahead with this pregnancy: first, if it is discovered after 25 weeks gestation you will be floated, if it is discovered before that you will be forced into termination; if you do somehow manage to carry and deliver this baby, as soon as it is discovered you will be floated and if less than five years old the baby will be floated with you, otherwise it will be put in the skybox until 18 and then it will be up to the review board; if your current child is under 18 when it is discovered, he, and it is a son isn’t it?” on seeing Aurora Blake’s nod, Abby continued, “he will also be put in the Sky box until 18; if he is older than 18 at the time of discovery, the chances are he too will be floated. If somehow the child is never discovered, what sort of life will they have? They will never be able to leave your room, always having to be on the alert for surprise inspections, how will they get their needs met? You and your son will have to go without and what sort of life would it be for him? and then what happens when you and your son eventually die? In principle I can understand that you may be against abortion, but what will you be condemning both this child and your son to if you are pregnant and don’t abort? I’m going to tell my boss that you just needed to talk to someone about your son growing up without a father while I said something about us treating physical medical needs and for the emotional support you need your best bet is to talk to a friend, okay? Ms Blake, think very carefully about what you do, it is not just you who will pay for the decision.”

Aurora left the med bay and did as Dr Griffin recommended: she thought long and hard about what she wanted to do, and what was best for her child, for both her children.

Three days later Aurora Blake went into the med bay to say that she was convinced she was pregnant despite having her implant replaced four months ago. If she wasn’t pregnant, she needed to know why she had the symptoms; if she was she needed to know how, and to arrange the termination.

It turned out that Aurora was four months pregnant and there was no fault with her implant. It led to station wide advice being given to all women that they should refrain from intercourse for a period of one week after the insertion of a new implant.

Every year on the anniversary of her abortion, Aurora Blake got blindingly, dangerously, drunk. When her son, Bellamy, was old enough to understand, he joined her. Everyone knew why, and they sympathised so they covered for them and were never in trouble as they mourned the loss of their child and younger sibling.

******************

When Clarke caught her breath from the landing of the drop ship, she appreciated the quiet for just a second before the cries and screams got to her. Being a trained medic, she considered it her duty to look to the injured, and to confirm two were dead, all because of one idiot who didn’t seem to consider anyone but himself.

“What if the air’s toxic?” Clarke asked as someone was about to open the dropship door.

“What’s the alternative? We can’t stay in here for very long without dying anyway” the boy said almost kindly.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. If I’m going to die, I’d rather die outside than in here then at least I get to think that I made it to earth” Clarke smiled at the boy.

“That’s the spirit, Princess. Let’s all make it down to earth. Everyone ready to enjoy our first taste of freedom?” the boy who Clarke was sure she knew from somewhere shouted to loud cheers.

It was very disappointing to realise that they had been dropped in the wrong place and that it would be a full day’s hike to reach Mt Weather for the proposed supplies. It was even more disappointing to learn that the Council had sent them down with nothing: no water canteens, no rations, no tents, no medical supplies and no weapons for defence against any animals that may be out there or to cut down trees to build cabins. Everyone really hoped that Mt Weather not only held supplies that they so desperately needed, but that they would be able to get in to access them.

Nate Miller, the boy that Clarke recognised, was trying to get some people to help one of the boys, Murphy, make some knives from the broken off parts of the drop ship for cutting, and to persuade some to go on a fruit, nut and berry gathering expedition. He also grabbed someone to help him start digging graves for the two idiots who died when they hit atmosphere thanks to the idiocy of the spacewalker who singlehandedly used up three months of oxygen for over 2,000 people. It was ghoulish, but Clarke reminded them of the need to repurpose their clothes and boots. Clarke agreed to take a few people with her to Mt Weather to see what was there – was it worth them all hiking there to settle? And they would bring back some things that they had immediate need for while they decided on their future.

No one could believe it: they were not alone on the ground. People were already living on the ground and for some reason, one, or more, had attacked and dragged off Jasper. It may have been because when Jasper crossed the river he landed in someone’s territory and as well as punishment it was a warning to the rest of them to stay on their own side of the river. It meant that there was no way to get supplies from Mt Weather regardless as to whether or not there was some there to get!

Everyone spent the night sleeping in the dropship on their seats. No one was comfortable, but it was better than the floor outside.

Clarke, Finn, Murphy, Mbege and Wells went to look for Jasper with a stretcher made from some of the parachute and some sturdy branches fallen from trees and armed with some roughly made spears. Even if Jasper was no longer alive they wanted to bring his body back to bury. Monty wanted to go with them but he was persuaded that he would be much more helpful to their people if he could take a small group into the forest to look for edible plants and teach some what to look for.

When they found Jasper tied to a stake Clarke rushed towards him, unaware that Jasper was bait for the trap by his feet, and she fell into it saved only by the fact that she was holding onto one end of the stretcher they had brought with them to carry Jasper back. Wells was holding onto the other end and with help from the rest of the people, he was able to haul Clarke back up onto solid ground. As much as she didn’t want to speak to Wells, good manners, as well as gratitude and decency demanded she thank him. So she did.

It was just as Clarke offered the briefest of thanks that they heard the growl of something coming towards them, the something that the trap was probably designed to catch. They went to form a semi-circle behind Jasper and the trap and held their spears at the ready. It was a panther, something they had never imagined they would actually see in real life. For a moment they were all in awe of the beauty and grace of the animal that was prowling towards them but its leap, clearly intended to take one of them down brought them back to their senses. Mbege and Murphy were the ones whose spears pierced the animal and injured it sufficiently for Clarke to deliver the killing blow through its chest.

“Well, that’s dinner tonight if anyone knows how to skin and cook it” Murphy said.

“It actually doesn’t look like enough for 98 of us but it’s better than nothing” Wells added. “I reckon Clarke would be the best for skinning if she has a sharp enough knife, and she should try to teach at least one other person so she can concentrate on Jasper. I think I’ll try to find a way to cook the meat on the open fire once we get it, and Jasper back to camp.”

Clarke and Finn carried Jasper on the stretcher while Wells carried the dead panther over his shoulders. Mbege and Murphy walked around them with their spears at the ready to defend their group. They made it back to the camp, pleased to see that a start had been made on building a wall around the area outside the drop ship. Some of the seats on the lower level had been removed and taken to the higher levels so that there was room for Clarke to work on Jasper.

“While I start on Jasper, someone cut off the panther’s head, slice it open down the chest and remove the intestines and stomach. Let me know when that’s done” Clarke said as she started to examine what damage Jasper had suffered. “This is strange” Clarke murmured to herself, not thinking about others that may be within ear shot.

“What’s strange?” Monty asked.

“Jasper’s wound was treated. How awful, it looks like they treated him enough to keep him alive only to tie him to that stake as bait for the trap. This poultice they put on him, it’s a strange reddish colour and it seems to have kept the wound area clean. I think it must be an antibiotic of some sort” Clarke talked to Monty.

“I know what that poultice is made of, and where to get some” Monty said. “When we were out looking for stuff to eat I noticed the red seaweed type stuff in the lake. I’m sure that that is what it is made of. Should I send a group out to grab some?”

“Yeah, it might be it. I know some sea weeds do contain natural antibiotics so it should be useful to have a supply. If you can think of anything that would be a natural painkiller, it would probably be helpful so get some of that, too” Clarke added as Monty left on his quest.

Next Clarke looked for some wire that she could use to stitch up the gaping hole in Jasper’s chest. Since she had no equipment, there was nothing Clarke could do to correct any internal damage; it would have to heal as it is or not, but she would do what she could to at least allow the external wound to heal and hopefully the red sea weed could be used to make a drink that would prevent infection.

Clarke was told that the panther was ready for the next stage. She said to remove the heart, liver, kidneys and lungs and put them to one side because they could be sliced and cooked and were very nutritious and whoever was doing the skinning to bring the head so they could practice.

Giving instructions on how to skin something so that as little flesh as possible was removed with the pelt was harder than Clarke thought it would be. The small piece of salvageable fur from the head could be put aside and used as a patch. The rest of the panther would provide enough fur for one person to have a blanket if they were to curl up. A lot more fur was needed.

As predicted, the panther did not provide a lot to eat, but the meat was the tastiest food they had ever eaten. But the trip to the lake to get the sea weed was not without its own adventure: there was a massive serpent that lived in the water and attacked Fox who was one of the people getting the weed. Thankfully the serpent was no match for the three spears that were aimed at it. Regretfully, no one thought to bring it back to camp to cook.

As Jasper started to waken some people complained about the noise he made through his pain. Clarke just told them to make sure that there were enough seats on the upper levels for everyone so they could shut the noise out. There was some grumblings as two young teens got a piece of metal to use as a screwdriver to help move some of the other chairs. Even squashed up there would be no way to fit enough chairs for everyone in the upper two levels, but most would be able to fit. It had the added benefit of giving Clarke more room to move.

When the wall was complete, the next step was to start building cabins with raised beds so they didn’t need to worry about water soaking through the floor since it would soon be winter and it would get wet as well as cold. The parachute material was used as a waterproof cover over the wooden frames with pine branches to add insulation. It wasn’t until after the second cabin had been built that someone thought to suggest they dig channels for the rain water to go around the cabins. It added to the time it took to build, but it was thought to be well worth it so that they needed worry about everything on the floor getting soaked with every down pour.

Clarke tried her hand at making wooden needles so that she wouldn’t have to use wire to sew wounds. It took her a lot of time, and many failures to secure three needles that were fine enough to stitch, but strong enough to go through flesh. She knew that a lot more were needed and resolved to make two every day until she had a stash of at least ten, and replace them as they were used. With the rest of her time, Clarke was sewing pieces of fur together to make blankets since she could use some of her needle failures, the ones too thick for the human skin but thin enough to go through the fur - she wanted to make sure that at least the youngest ones had something to keep them warm; and weaving threads from plants to make material so that the feathers from the few birds they caught could be turned into pillows. Once she got the hang of it and learnt how to make it softer, Clarke thought about how to make some light weight, summer clothes, if the Arc didn’t come down for them by next year.

As soon as five cabins were built, each able to house six with a squeeze, someone decided to start making hammocks using the same type of weaving as Clarke’s material but thicker using the whole vine rather than strands made from it. Once one got used to the strange sensation of climbing into the swing and mastered the art of getting off without falling off, the hammocks were surprisingly comfortable. It was decided that those sleeping outside would get the furs first and that the eldest should sleep outside, other than Clarke who slept in the bottom level of the ship used as the med bay. Clarke didn’t mind her plans for the furs being shanghaied, nor did she mind making her own bed in the med bay. 

Jasper began to show signs of improvement thanks to the poultice and drink that he was given. Clarke was surprised: pleased, but surprised that there appeared to be no internal damage from the spear. Jasper might not think so since he was still in a great deal of pain, but he was a very lucky boy to have survived a spear to the chest.

Miller seemed to know a lot of the delinquents; those he didn’t know personally, he knew someone who did. Thus he was able to make sure that everyone was able to contribute to the welfare of the camp in a way that suited them. A couple of wise guys decided that they weren’t going to collect wood for the fire since they didn’t see why they should have to collect wood for everyone else, soon changed their tune when they were told that they didn’t get to share the food that someone else had hunted, prepared and cooked; nor drink the water that someone else had collected and carried from the river. It only took the one event but everyone soon realised that they were all in this mess together, and they all had to work together. At least they hadn’t lost anyone to more attacks; perhaps they did just need to stick to their area.

That complacent thought was knocked out of them with the arrival of acidic fog. Clarke was in the drop ship showing one of the younger girls how she made the sewing needles and trying to explain why they were needed when it struck. Charlotte was not as dextrous as Clarke and couldn’t make needles for human stitches, but she was able to make a needle like tool that made the weaving a lot easier so she was happy that she was contributing to the camp. 

When they thought that it was safe to venture out of the ship someone did a head count: six people were missing; Wells, Finn, Trina, Pascal, Roma and Atom.

Miller set up search parties. Clarke’s hadn’t gone far when she came across the groaning Atom. Sterling was Atom’s friend and he immediately ran to try to help; but every touch elicited a low scream of agony.

“Kill me, Ster. Kill me, please” Atom forced out to his friend.

Sterling looked horrified. “I can’t kill you Atom, I can’t. You’re my best friend” Sterling begged Atom to suddenly get well.

Clarke looked over Atom. She undid his shirt and could see that the burns covered his chest. There was no way Atom was going to recover, not even with the full medical expertise of her mother at hand. “It’s okay Atom” Clarke crooned. “I’ll take your pain, just remember the best things about being here” and she started to hum as she reached for her knife. Clarke stroked Atom’s hair as it fell away from his scalp and without breaking her humming, gently slit his carotid artery. Within seconds Atom breathed his last breath.

Clarke apologised to Sterling, saying “there was nothing I, or anyone, could do for him. He would have needed skin grafts as a minimum and we just couldn’t do that here. I’m sorry that I did the only thing I could to spare him pain, I wish I could have done more.”

Seeing that Clarke was so upset at taking the life of his friend, Sterling did the only thing he could do: he hugged her and thanked her for sparing him the pain of killing his friend.

They took Atom’s body back to the camp where they found that the bodies of Trina and Pascal were also covered in burns.

Finn and Wells were also there. They were with Roma when the fog rolled in. They were running for cover when Roma slipped and fell down a gully. They went back to where she fell after the fog had cleared but couldn’t see her. They wanted to go and search. Clarke offered to go with them in case they found her and she was injured.

At the bottom of the gully they didn’t need Finn to point out the tracks that showed where Roma fell. They could follow as she moved towards a cave until her tracks stopped abruptly.

“She was carried by someone else” Finn said and Clarke had no reason to doubt him. She took out her knife and followed Finn when he said “This way.”

They went into a cave that had the warmth of a fire and saw the sleepy Roma sitting up with her left ankle strapped and raised to rest on a pile of fur. Standing in the rear was a giant of a man with a sword and knife pointing at them.

Clarke looked into the eyes of the man and thought that she had never seen anyone, not even her father, with eyes that projected such strength and kindness. She was not afraid.

“Hello, thank you for looking after our friend for us. My name is Clarke” and Clarke walked towards the gentle giant offering her hand and ignoring the calls from Finn and Wells and the sword pointing in her direction.

Lincoln looked into the eyes of the golden haired angel that he had watched from the trees and melted. He lowered his sword, took her hand, gently pulling her towards him and said “My name is Lincoln. It is my pleasure to meet you. Can I offer you something to drink?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would Clarke have been all defensive and so assertive if Bellamy wasn't there to be such an ass and whipping everyone up into doing 'whatever the hell we want'? I doubt it very much. Since there is no happy, bubbly Octavia for Lincoln to fall for, why wouldn't he fall for the gorgeous, intelligent, helpful, kind more mature Clarke?


	6. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thinking of things from Bellamy's POV taking into account how his personality might have developed after knowing that his mother sacrificed her peace of mind by the abortion of his sibling for the sake of the people of the ARC. Clarke is, as always, the hero but this time Bellamy is a little heroic too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING CHARACTER DEATHS

Bellamy Blake was pissed. He had been working his guts out trying to help the Arc make a safe camp on the ground only to be told that he had to deal with the Chancellor’s daughter: the spoilt, traitorous, Alpha princess who didn’t have to risk everything to come down in the remains of the space station but was safely dropped to earth in a purpose built drop ship. He was very, very pissed.

“Look, Princess, just because you somehow managed to con the rest of the delinquents into following you, it doesn’t mean you get to come here and tell us that we’re doing everything wrong. As far as I’m concerned, you and the rest of the selfish low lives you came down with can go hang. We are not risking the lives of good, honest people to rescue a few delinquents who would have been floated once they reached 18 anyway, and that includes you, traitor.”

“I don’t know who you think you are, but let me tell you something about those delinquents you are so disparaging of: they know what poison ivy looks like, they know how to start a fire, they know how to build cabins, they know how to walk silently through the forest so they not only see the animals but they can catch them too, and they are not enough to produce all the bone marrow the inhabitants of Mt Weather need; so guess where they’re going to come looking for the next lot of forced donors. If you lot won’t help me, I guess I’ll just have to go and get them out myself” Clarke stormed off.

‘Yeah right, she’ll go and rescue a bunch of factory delinquents’ Bellamy thought. ‘She’ll probably go off for a walk and sprain her ankle or something and blame it on the run for her life to escape the mountain again.’ He knew it was mean but he half wished that they had killed her and not just the grounder when they turned up at the gates with news of where the rest of the delinquents were and why they were there. She’d been at Camp Jaha for all of four days and had done nothing to contribute to the welfare of the camp’s inhabitants except to complain and use up valuable resources.

“How’s it going, Bellamy?” Marcus Kane asked. Kane was someone that Bellamy really looked up to: he was honest and he always did the best for the people of the Arc.

“Not too bad, Sir. I just had another run in with the Chancellor’s daughter. She really seems to think that we should risk our guards to go and try to rescue the rest of the low life delinquents from the mountain just because she wants us to” Bellamy said.

“I’m sorry to hear you say that, Blake” Kane said and Bellamy noticed the tone was much cooler. “Why are you so censorious of Clarke and the other delinquents?”

“I think, Sir, that the clue is in the name; they are all criminals who would have been floated once they reached 18 so I don’t believe we should risk the lives of the good people of Camp Jaha to rescue them.” Bellamy was so sure that he was right.

“Do you actually know what they were locked up for, Clarke especially?” Kane asked.

“No, Sir; but I assume that they would not have been locked up if they hadn’t committed some sort of crime” Bellamy was at least honest.

“Ah, well, it seems that I am about to disillusion you, Blake. Some did indeed commit crimes, from the petty fighting to rape and murder. Some committed the crime of being an orphan and we had nowhere else to put them so they were labelled delinquents and put in lock up. Still think they’re not worthy of rescuing? As for Clarke Griffin, she was locked up in solitary confinement for overhearing an argument between her parents and asking a question. Now, tell me again why you are so censorious about the delinquents?” Kane was stern.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I had no idea. I didn’t think that people would be locked up for being orphans, nor that someone would be put in solitary confinement for that; and she was there for over a year, wasn’t she?” Bellamy was aghast.

“Yes, she was 16 when she was locked up. A medical prodigy; the youngest qualified Medical Assistant and already part way through her Doctorate. You don’t get to be that good that young without a lot of hard work and sacrifice, and then to be thrown to earth without any rations or tools as an experiment because she, along with the rest, were considered expendable. You have to appreciate that to many of the delinquents, Clarke included, we are the bad guys.

“Clarke has negotiated a Peace Accord with the grounders and she offered to help us to negotiate one. Unfortunately, us killing the leader of Trikru has put us at a disadvantage. I believe you need to go and make nice with Miss Griffin and try to measure your response more so that you don’t make an enemy where you don’t have to.”

“I think it may be too late for that, Sir” Bellamy gulped. “I was quite clear in my thoughts. She did say something about poison ivy, fire starting, cabin building and hunting, though.”

“Yes, the camp around the drop ship was very impressive. You should have seen it, they had built homes, with furs and furniture and stores of dried food. We will need to set up a run to go and collect what we can. You should be on the team so that you can see all that they accomplished.”

Bellamy nodded his agreement, what else could he do? He couldn’t believe that he had been so awful to someone who had suffered the way Clarke had. Bellamy was not looking forward to his next meeting with Clarke Griffin, especially the grovelling apology he would have to offer.

As it turned out Bellamy didn’t see Clarke before a team set off to collect things that would be needed from the delinquents’ camp. As they approached, they saw a sign ‘Camp 100: Population 98, 95, 94, 93, 91, 88, 87, 73, 74, 73’. Bellamy assumed that someone had given birth for their number to increase by one and wondered if either the baby or mother had subsequently died for the number to go back down. He walked around the sturdy wall and found the graveyard and counted 28 graves, no baby deaths, then, he realised and wondered why Clarke had not said anything about a baby in their camp.

Just as Kane was about to push the gate open a torrent of arrows was fired at them, only just managing to miss them. Bellamy didn’t doubt that it was by design. All the guards raised their weapons. Kane raised his hand to stop anyone from firing.

“Hello. My name is Marcus Kane. Who is there, please?” Kane called out.

Clarke stepped out of the treeline with a small army of bow and arrow wielding savages.

“Hello, Kane” Clarke called. “What are you doing here since we are people of no value to you?”

“Clarke; what are you doing here?” Kane asked.

“I live here, so I repeat, what are you doing here?”

“Clarke, we came to see if we could take some of your things back to the camp since they’re of no use to anyone rotting here” Kane said and even Bellamy could hear how bad that sounded.

“You mean since you have written us off you thought you would come and steal all our possessions, the fruits of our labour? So when I get my people back you would have left us with nothing to come back to, is that it?” Clarke was fuming.

“Clarke, you will, surely, all live at Camp Jaha with us, your people, where you belong?” Kane said, clearly grasping at straws.

“You have decided that my people are not worthy and don’t care if they rot to death therefore you cannot claim them, or me, as your people. When my people are released from their captivity we will return to our home and you are not welcome. Please leave and do not return. Be grateful that Trikru have not declared war on you for the death of Anya and the attack on me, the spouse of Lincoln kom Trikru. This camp is in the middle of Trikru lands and you are not welcome here” Clarke was adamant.

“I am Indra Kom Trikru” a fierce tattooed woman said, “and as Clarke kom Skaikru has said, this is Trikru land and you must leave. Now” and it looked like hundreds of armed savages surrounded the relatively small team from Camp Jaha. Even with their guns, there was no way the people from Camp Jaha could over-run the bow and arrow, sword wielding Trikru.

“We will head back to our camp” Kane conceded, knowing that they were beaten just as much as Bellamy did. “Perhaps you could let me know how we can make contact with whoever we need to in order to agree a peace treaty” Kane tried to walk away with something.

“When you hand over the person who murdered Anya kom Trikru we can talk peace. Until then, stay within sight of your pathetic camp. We shall mark a boundary and anyone caught outside of that will be captured. When you are ready to hand over the murderer, bind and gag them and lead them outside your walls. We shall be watching. Now go” Indra was adamant.

Kane looked like he was about to address Clarke again, but she immediately turned her back and leant into the chest of a tall, imposing looking man who looked at the people from Camp Jaha as if they were nothing, yet in a split second, looked down at the blonde as if she hung the moon and the stars. Bellamy wondered what it was that he had missed.

“Can you give us the names of the dead, and cause of death, at least, please?” Kane asked; determined to appear as if he was walking away with something.

“I gave the information to your Chancellor while I was in the med bay recovering from being shot by your guards. She wasn’t best pleased with me when I informed her that I executed two of them for rape and murder, but then, what did you expect to happen when you sent down rapists and murderers with a bunch of basically innocent kids? Now, please leave our home, and heed the warning that Indra gave you. Do not attempt to come here again, or leave the boundary area of your camp until you are ready to hand over the murderer of Anya kom Trikru.”

Clarke took the hand of her presumed spouse and led him off into the woods. The woman, Indra, indicated with her sword that the Camp Jaha people should move on: they did.

When he thought that they were out of hearing range Bellamy asked Kane “Sir, are we really going to hand over the guard who shot the grounder and Miss Griffin?”

“Of course not, they were only doing their job; a little overzealously maybe, but still it was their job to protect the camp” Kane replied.

Bellamy thought for a moment. “But Sir, why did they think that two unarmed women were a danger to the camp?”

“They both looked like grounders and failed to raise their hands when asked to do so. They could have been carrying concealed weapons.”

“Sir, I heard Clarke shout that she couldn’t raise her hands because Anya was injured” Bellamy persisted.

“And she could have been lying” Kane retaliated.

Bellamy thought that that really wasn’t a good enough excuse because someone could have gone out there to tell the two women what was happening and warning them that if they were armed they would be shot. He did think at the time that the guard was premature in firing and Bellamy only hoped that they didn’t have to pay for that through the nose, or more likely, through their stomachs.

Eight days’ later Clarke Griffin returned to the gate of Camp Jaha with Jasper Jordan. Clarke and Jasper waited until the Chancellor and Marcus Kane joined them. Jasper, apparently, wished to stay; none of the other delinquents wanted to go anywhere near the camp.

Nineteen more delinquents were dead, killed by the people who used to live in Mt Weather. Clarke killed all the people who lived there in retaliation and to stop more being killed. Jasper was in love with one of the people of Mt Weather who was helping Skaikru, but still Clarke murdered her. Jasper didn’t want to live with the people who killed his love anymore.

“The Commander has said that you may move into the mountain once we have had the chance to go through it to destroy anything that could be potentially dangerous to us” Clarke said. “A messenger will come to tell you when that is. If you move to the mountain with its farm, medical facilities, plumbing and electricity, you may not leave the mountain, although you can go outside on the mountain, until the same conditions have been met as were asked for earlier. Anyone caught off the mountain will be captured or killed. Alternatively you can stay here. You have until the messenger returns to decide. May we meet again, Jasper” Clarke said and turned around to leave.

“Clarke, wait” Chancellor Griffin called.

“Why, Chancellor? I’ve said all I need to say” Clarke sounded surprised, but surely she couldn’t have been.

“Clarke, why are you like this? Come back home, baby, please” the Chancellor sounded a little bit whiny to Bellamy’s ears.

“You were disgusted with me for executing a couple of rapists and murderers, although given the type of people you executed I really don’t understand the squeamishness or like the hypocrisy, so how do you feel about me committing genocide to protect my people? I killed 383 people including all the innocent children and not just the crazy torturers of my people and the torturers and murderers of the people from the clans: all to protect the lives of 54 delinquents. I took 383 lives to save 54. I would have done it to save one. Remember that, do anything to my people and I will come back to make you regret it. You had your chance to get us on your side and you blew it. Now, you may be the Chancellor but I am in charge of what happens to you and let me tell you that you don’t have enough bullets to win a war so don’t start one. Don’t leave the boundary. I, or a messenger, will return soon, in a month or so.”

It was nearly seven weeks before Clarke returned to Camp Jaha. She returned with a young woman, Mel, the sole survivor of Factory Station and Bellamy mourned the loss of his mother again at this the confirmation of her death. The Chancellor met Clarke with the decision that they would move into Mt Weather.

“We thought you would” Clarke said. “An escort will come day after tomorrow at dawn to lead you to the mountain and to make sure you all leave. Please make sure that everything is packed up ready to go. There will be some horse led carts to carry what you cannot. It is a long walk so make sure everyone has refreshments for the journey. I will not see you again: goodbye.”

“Clarke, wait” called the Chancellor bringing forth a distinct feeling of déjà vu, “what do you mean you will not see me again? You’re my daughter, I love you, you belong here with your people.”

“If I am your daughter and you love me why do you continue to refuse to hand over the person responsible for the death of my friend and who almost killed me, too?” Clarke asked managing to sound puzzled.

“He was only doing his job, guarding the camp from the savages and you looked like them” the Chancellor was starting to sound angry.

“Wow, you didn’t even manage to sound sorry that I was almost killed. Never mind, I am going back to my people now. My people who appreciate me because they know I would do anything for them, and they would do anything for me. People who would protect my husband, people who would protect my baby” and Clarke stroked the distinct bump on her abdomen with a small smile. With a final wave, she walked towards the woods to the arms of the man who was clearly her husband, ignoring the sound of her mother’s tears.

Bellamy liked living in the mountain, at first. It wasn’t long before he found himself outside at every opportunity he could get. Jasper Jordan was also outside more often than he was in. He spent most of his time hanging around the grave that he said was Maya’s. Most of the people had apparently been burnt on a communal pyre, but Maya and her dad were buried.

“She saved my life” Jasper said to Bellamy one evening over a drink. “When we first came down here I was speared in the chest” and Jasper lifted his shirt to show the very impressive scar, “and everyone thought I was a gonner. Some even suggested putting me out of my misery but the Princess wouldn’t let them. She spent days and nights with me keeping me alive. When I was better I was grateful; now, now I wish she had let me die. Right up until the moment she pulled the lever to kill everyone, I thought Clarke Griffin was the best thing to happen to us, the best person ever. I know why she did it. She warned Wallace that she was going to do it if he didn’t stop. But I hate her for doing it. Every time I think of the people she saved I hate her because she saved them but she didn’t save Maya. I know that if the guard had killed her when she first escaped the mountain I would have died too, as would all my friends, but I so wish that she had died that day then at least Maya would have lived.”

Bellamy thought about what Jasper had said and realised how much he had underestimated the Princess. Then Bellamy thought about Jasper’s girl. “Do you think Maya would have wanted to live with all those deaths on her conscience?” he asked.

“No, she would not” Jasper replied, “and you’d think that would make me feel better, but it doesn’t.”

The arrival of some survivors from Farm Station, escorted to the mountain by some grounders, brought strife to the mountain. Charles Pike wanted to declare war on the grounders and wipe them all out. He was very persuasive and whipped up a whole heap of support. No one would accept that even with their guns they didn’t stand a chance against the hundreds, thousands, of grounders. An election was called and Pike won by a narrow margin. He declared war by going outside the mountain and shooting at everything that moved. He must have killed at least three grounders before he was shot with an arrow in one eye. He died instantly. Two more of his followers grabbed guns and did the same. Although they did not die, they were severely injured. Pike may have died, but he had his war.

The mountain suffered when the dam was blown up. The loss of power meant that the doors had to be opened for air to get in. It also meant that their cameras were not working so they were flying blind. Farm production was halted so they had to live off preserves, cooked on an open fire, something they were not very good at.

Bellamy thought that Charles Pike had probably sealed their fate. They were blind and they were corralled into the mountain. He did wonder how the grounders were able to make the bomb to blow the dam and then remembered that they were probably aided by the delinquents. But how would the delinquents have the knowledge of how to make the bomb and where to place it to cause the desired damage? He also began to wonder if he had played any part sealing the division between them and the delinquents by the way he treated Clarke Griffin. While he could only hope that he played no part in causing the division, he knew that he definitely did nothing to help heal the rift.

“Sir, how would the grounders, or the delinquents, know how to make a bomb or where to cause the most damage?” Bellamy asked a tired looking Kane.

“I expect Clarke told them. For all she is her mother’s daughter in many ways, I always thought she was more like her father and I expect she picked up a lot of knowledge from him, and what she didn’t know, she could understand if she read about it” Kane said.

“I don’t understand, Sir, who is her father?” Bellamy asked.

“Jake Griffin was the Chief Engineer who discovered the fault with the oxygenation. He made sure his little girl was well educated. I think Clarke went into medicine because that was what Abby wanted and she pushed her that way; Jake was more laid back. The thing about Clarke, she was also an artist, and I expect she saw all the plans about this place while she was here and she very likely drew a picture in her mind of where to place a bomb to stop the power, and she would then have drawn that picture for someone else to place the bomb. I understand she is an excellent shot with the bow and arrow and can skin a deer quicker than any of the other delinquents. Jasper likes to talk about her” Kane added when he saw Bellamy raise a questioning brow, “when he’s not talking about Maya. The only thing she can’t do, apart from bring Jasper’s girlfriend back from the dead, is to sing, apparently. I have no way of knowing, but I strongly suspect that Clarke is actively helping the grounders so I assume that her husband was one of those killed or injured by Pike, Hannah or Bryan. If I am correct in my assumptions Clarke would have no qualms about making us pay. Without power the farm isn’t producing. We will run out of food soon. Clarke will know it is just a waiting game. That month or so before we moved in, she will have made sure she knew everything there was to know about this place. We were probably the idiots blinded by our desire for the things we were used to, hating to rough it out that we didn’t think it through. Our clock probably started to tick the second we shot Clarke and her friend; and it would have sped up a bit more when we refused to sanction an attempt to rescue the delinquents; then more when we went to strip their camp; and then it would have whirled around when we allowed Pike to be elected.”

“What can we do to lessen the payment?” Bellamy asked.

“Surrender” was the only thing Kane could think of. It was the one thing that Hannah, Pike’s successor, refused to do.

Bellamy did something that he never thought he would do: with Kane and Jasper’s help, he rounded up as many of the children as he could. In the dead of night he walked with them towards the treeline.

“I bring the innocent children to you in the hope that you will safely escort them to Clarke Griffin and Camp 100” Bellamy said to the woods, filled he just knew with warriors ready to kill at a moment’s notice.

The woman, Indra, stepped out of the line of trees and said “I will do as you ask, but if this is a trap of some sort then there will be no mercy for you or the children.”

“Thank you. I know Clarke will keep them safe. Tell me, please, was Clarke’s husband one of those hurt by Pike, Bryan or Hannah?” Bellamy asked, not knowing what he wanted the answer to be.

“Lincoln was killed by Hannah as he protected Monty who I believe was running to tell his mother to put her weapon down. Monty has lost one of his hands that took two bullets. Lincoln was shot in the back as he tried to push Monty away. Clarke said that he was a quad plegic. Lincoln begged to be allowed to die. Clarke granted his wish. She then had to help save the life of the son of the one who killed her houmon. You should tell Hannah” Indra said and Bellamy knew he didn’t want to hear that; to know that in saving a boy’s life from being taken by his own mother, Clarke’s husband was shot in the back, becoming a quadriplegic if he had survived. 

Back at the mountain there was a meeting to discuss the situation. Bellamy stood up to say what he had done with the children and why. Hannah called for his immediate arrest.

“You should also know that when you went on your shooting spree, Hannah, you shot your son, Monty” Bellamy shouted as he was led away, unresisting. He didn’t know if Hannah believed him, or even cared at that point with her hatred of grounders so entrenched.

That night, while Bellamy was safe in the lock up, stealth assassins walked through the mountain slitting the throats of everyone they came across. An act of kindness that Bellamy thought would lead to his own execution actually saved his life, the sole adult survivor of the former Camp Jaha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried writing more about Clarke and Lincoln's relationship but I ended up crying and risked killing my very old laptop so had to forgo that pleasure - sorry. That is why I'm not good at the angst so need to stick to angst light at best.


	7. Clarke Chooses to Verbally Eviscerate Lexa After Mt Weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Lexa has Roan kidnap Clarke after the fall of Mt Weather, Clarke takes the opportunity to say what she really thinks about the abandonment at the mountain and why she thinks it was the wrong decision for the people of the coalition.

Clarke Griffin was worried sick for her people, Bellamy in particular since the last she had seen of him he had been stabbed in the leg and was lying unconscious, but she was also fuming at the audacity of the Commander to arrange for her to be kidnapped and brought to Polis – the most complex and exhausting aspects of multi-tasking, thinking of two completely different things at the same time and having strong feelings about both of them. 

Her prison was very comfortable to be sure, but it was still a prison. There may be no bars on the window, but she was at least ten floors up so escape by that route was not going to happen. The door was locked after her first attempt at just walking out after she was given no more explanation than “The Commander said for you to stay here”. As if that eased her mind. Food and jugs of juice were brought to her, but not trusting that they had not been drugged, Clarke limited herself to drinking from the washing water that she had not availed herself of. If the Commander wanted her in her tower, then the bloody Commander could put up with Clarke in her dirt in her tower. Regretfully Clarke had no choice but to use the chamber pot, but she took great pleasure in emptying it out over the food and juice brought for her.

The day after she had been brought to, no, locked up in her room the door was unlocked and a guard said that the Commander wished to see Wanheda. Clarke had already been informed by Nylah and Roan that her new moniker was Wanheda, and what it meant. The grounders thought that she commanded death and if they wanted her power, all they had to do was to kill her to take it. As if anyone could command death: no, you could argue with, cajole or fight it, but you could not command it. Death could not be gainsaid when it was determined.

“You did not choose to make use of the amenities made available to you” the Commander opened with, sounding puzzled at Clarke’s intransigence.

“No. I cannot pay for them so I will not use them. I do not want to risk being caught unawares and presented with a bill later” Clarke tried to explain.

“But you would not be asked to pay for them” the Commander said. “You are here as my guest”.

“You always lock up your guests, do you?” Clarke asked. “You said that you would fight against the mountain with me and went back on your word for that so why should I believe you over anything else?” A very reasonable question to Clarke’s mind.

“I had to do what was best for my people, you understand that. You killed all of the people in the mountain to save yours. You sacrificed them to save yours. I sacrificed your people to save mine. What is the difference?” The Commander genuinely sounded puzzled.

Clarke snorted out a disbelieving laugh. “You can’t really be that stupid, or think that I am, to believe that tripe that you are spewing, can you?”

The Commander was now starting to get a little irritated. Yes she understood that Clarke was naturally upset that she had to leave her at the mountain, but how could Clarke not understand that it is her sworn duty to protect her people, to give up her personal happiness to safeguard her subjects? She thought she was leaving the woman she had grown very fond of, and very attracted to, to almost certain death and Clarke had the audacity to be angry with her. The Commander said as much to her guest.

Clarke’s laughter could be heard all along the corridor: it did not sound like the laughter of happiness. “If we had not defeated the mountain men, what do you think would have happened once they killed all of my people? By then half of their people would have been able to roam around like Emerson did, armed with their guns, sleeping gas and missiles that they could send to anywhere in your territory. Do you believe they would have thought ‘ah well, we’ve used up all the sky people so we’ll just make do with what we have and let our people die out since we promised not to go for the grounders any more’ or do you accept that they would have thought ‘damn, we’ve used up all the sky people and it’s not enough. We’ll have to go back to taking and bleeding the grounders again for those who didn’t get the special sky treatment.’?”

“What do you mean? They said they would never come after us again” the Commander insisted.

“You can’t really think that they would keep their word if it meant that their people would die out? You didn’t keep your word to me when to do would mean the probable death of a tiny proportion of your people so how could you believe that they would keep their word to you? You made yourself look gullible and weak, and you were. If only you had kept faith, you would have marched back to Polis victorious knowing that you had made the mountain people pay for what they had done to your people over the years; and knowing that those who died in the battle would consider it a good death, proud to give their lives for so worthy a cause instead of having to suffer through a craven retreat. 

“You go on and on about blood must have blood, you even tried to take it from one of mine, someone already in pain, when they were not even the person responsible for the crime, for which, by the way, you offered no apology and no compensation; you insisted that Finn had to die even though it was clear that he was mentally sick; you let the bomb fall on TonDC killing all those people; but when did you get blood for that blood spilled; or the blood for all those years in the harvest chamber in the mountain? You didn’t. I had to get it for you. 

“I know that Commanders don’t usually live for very long and are not used to thinking long term, I mean why bother thinking about what’s going to happen in ten years’ time if you’re not going to be alive then? But surely as Commander you ought to be more strategic in your thinking and plan for the safety of your people beyond the here and now? If the mountain people were still alive, I guarantee you that in ten years’ time you would be in the same position you were ten months ago with them, or worse because half of them would have been able to roam the country with their weapons, in their metal vehicles that your arrows would not be able to penetrate. By not staying to see the mountain men dead, you risked the future of your people” Clarke was really getting into her stride.  
“I did your job for you and your payment to me for it was to kidnap me; have your people almost kill two of mine, and for a price to be put on my head. I did you a very big favour and now I have to pay for it while you get off scot free. You want me to take advantage of the things you provide, I have one thing to say to you Commander, go float yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one truly is a one shot so no part 2 for this little piece.
> 
> Every time I read a fan fic where the Commander justifies leaving the mountain I want to shout "But what about the future?" and that does not take account of the insistence that 'blood must have blood'debacle. This little story is my way of letting it all hang out!


	8. The Arc Council Choose to Send Different Test Subjects to Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead of just sending the 100 delinquents to the earth, the Council decide to be a little more sensible in who they send down first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jake Griffin was not floated because he worked with the Council to try to find a solution to the oxygenation problem. The Council, however, is still mainly made up with a bunch of unfeeling asses!

“So we’re agreed then, our only chance of survival is if the scientists made a mistake and the earth’s atmosphere is not still so irradiated we die?” Chancellor Jaha wanted to make sure that they were all on the same page. 

“Since all our engineers as well as the most promising students have been studying this problem for six months and no one has come up with anything that will correct our oxygenation problem, our only other choice is to significantly reduce our numbers and find a way to increase oxygen output through plant production. I agree that we should send a dropship with volunteers to earth to test for survivability” Councillor Kane agreed. “Who do we seek the volunteers from and do we offer incentives?”

“I volunteer to go, if my wife and daughter come with me” Jake Griffin said.

“Jake!” Abby Griffin exclaimed, cross with her husband. “You can’t want Clarke to go down to earth. What if she dies?”

“If she stays here she will die and I would rather she was with us then not. Come on, Abby, the Away Team is going to need a Medical Officer, are you game?” Engineer Jake Griffin was upbeat.

Abby smiled: she couldn’t stay mad at her husband. “Very well, the Away Team has an Engineer, a Medical Officer and a Medic. What else will we need?”

“You will need some guards in case of mutated animals” Marcus Kane said as he looked through his tablet trying to think of who he could ask to accompany the team. He then had a brainwave. “Former Guard Cadet Blake, very promising, I saw him going far until we discovered he helped his mother harbour a secret second child. We could offer him his former rank back – he’s currently working as a janitor – if he and his sister go to earth. We could offer the same deal to the Greens, Farm Station, if they and their son currently in Sky box go. I’m sure we could find other people in similar situations with some thought. It gives the people you need with you an incentive to go and relieves some of the pressure of the Sky Box.”

“That’s a good idea, Kane” the Chancellor said. “Let us all think about who would be useful to the Away Team, since is what we appear to be calling it, and incentives to get them agree. Kane, you approach Blake. Make sure he knows that if he talks he will be floated for Treason and if we are somehow still alive by then, there will be no one to speak on behalf of his sister at her hearing. Muir, you speak with the Greens, same warning. The same with anyone else you think of. We will reconvene in two days to discuss the numbers and how to make them up if we have less than 100, and who to cut if we have more than 120. Thank you. Really good idea, Kane: That thinking of practical solutions to problems will get you far.”

As her mom attached the wrist band that would send information to the Arc to let them know who was still alive Clarke wondered about the rest of her fellow explorers. Were they like her and suffering a mixture of nervous excitement and awe?

They get to go to earth: the real honest to goodness freaking earth!

The only one anywhere near Clarke’s age that she had been allowed to talk to about their adventure had been Raven (apparently they couldn’t take any risk of being overheard) and she was all focussed on the technical aspect of what they might find and what they would need. Raven didn’t find anything awesome about being able to see forests, feel the rain, smell the flowers, hear a waterfall, they were all just background to the real stuff to Raven while to Clarke, they were the real things and everything else was just background.

Clarke caught the eye of a young guard and without thinking smiled at him. His reply of a glare of disgust shocked her. What had she done to warrant such a response?

Clarke looked around at the other younger people and as she recognised a few faces it dawned on her: they were from the Sky Box. Had they all been forced into making this journey? Had their families somehow been blackmailed? Clarke caught the eye of her father who had clearly been watching her as she tried to form a bond with she those she thought would become her friends and she recognised the shame that told Clarke the truth: she, her father and perhaps her mom were the only people there truly of their own volition.

Clarke knew that the chances of her being able to make friends were practically zero thanks to the lack of thought by the people who were supposed to look out for her. It was a good job that she was fairly used to her own company, but now she wouldn’t even have Wells to be on her side.

All the young delinquents, and that is what they were called as a group, much to Clarke’s disgust, made it quite clear that she was despised by them. They sneeringly called her ‘Princess’ and seemed to not know that she had a first name. Clarke’s dad seemed to have realised what they had done because he kept looking apologetically at her every time he heard or saw her snubbed. Her mom didn’t even seem to notice.

Once it was established that they were miles from their intended target of Mt Weather a party was raised to try to make their way there to see if there was a way in to get to the supplies that the Chancellor had assured them it contained. It was appalling that they didn’t come down with much if there was no way to get to any supplies that the mountain bunker might contain. Clarke didn’t know what they would do if there were no supplies to be got.

Clarke’s mom, Abby, went to join the party looking for supplies since she wanted to know if the bunker had the medical facilities that she was used to. Clarke was told to stay at the drop ship site and to make herself useful. Clarke knew little about electronics, which is what her dad and Raven were working on. She knew a little about plants, mostly because she liked to learn about the things she loved to draw so she spoke to Mr and Mrs Green and asked if they would mind if she went to search for some useful plants. They thought it was a good idea and sent a few of the delinquents with her, Monty and Jasper were called by their name so she learned theirs, but Mrs Green just used the phrase ‘and some of your friends’ to indicate the rest ‘go with Miss Griffin’ “Clarke, my name is Clarke” she interrupted, which did not go down well as Mrs Green then emphasised “Miss Griffin to look for something to eat”.

Clarke, having learned her lesson, did not correct Mrs Green with what her intentions were; but in any case, looking for fruits, nuts and berries was useful.

Clarke was completely ignored by everyone in the group the whole time. Not that Clarke minded as she stopped to look at a particularly beautiful leaf. She knew what a dock leaf looked like on a screen, but see it in real life was something really special. Making a note of where they were, Clarke gathered a bunch in case someone stung themselves.

As Clarke gathered herself to join the rest of the group, who had stomped off ahead without her, she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. Something that she should not have seen. Something that should not have been possible.

Just as Clarke was about to scream she looked into his eyes. He looked terrified. Clarke looked around and then said “Don’t worry, I’ll pretend I didn’t see you” loud enough to be heard by the man in the tree, quiet enough not to be heard by those up ahead. “I don’t suppose you could point me in the direction of some fruits or berries, could you?”

Clarke thought he was going to pretend he didn’t see or hear her until he gave a small half smile and pointed to the side of where the others had gone. “Thank you. My name is Clarke. May we meet again” Clarke said and wandered off in the direction indicated.

It was an orchard. Clarke wasn’t sure if the apples were ripe enough to eat since none had fallen on the floor, but she reached up to a low branch and pulled one off. “Oh my gosh!” Clarke exclaimed on biting into it. She had never tasted anything so sweet and delicious in all her life.

Clarke knew she wouldn’t be able to carry enough for everyone to have an apple in one trip but she got as many apples as she could carry wrapped in her jacket and checked the direction of the sun against her watch and ran back to the drop ship. Clarke looked up to see the man no longer in the same tree and looked around for him, but she could no longer see him.

“Dad!” Clarke called as she saw him walking along the roof of the ship.

“A little busy here, sweetie. Why don’t you make some friends or do something useful?” Jake Griffin called down without looking at her.

Clarke scoffed. “Make friends, yeah, that’s going to happen, not. And do you think bringing you food is useful?”

“Food?” at least something got Jake’s attention. “Did your mom get back already with supplies?”

“No, I found an orchard and I know it’s not much but I imagine everyone could do with a snack right about now. I’ll put these down and go and get more.” 

Clarke was really disappointed that no one thanked her; no one offered to help her bring more back; they just complained that she hadn’t brought very many. Trying very hard not to think bad thoughts about how ungrateful everyone was, Clarke grabbed a bag as well as her jacket and went to get more apples.

This time Clarke managed to bring back enough that everyone had at least one.

“Thank you, sweetie” Jake said with a smile, please at how well everything seemed to be.

‘Yeah, at least one person is grateful’ Clarke thought. “I’m going back out to see if I can find anything else to eat” she said, knowing that they needed some protein and since she didn’t think she could just catch an animal she had to make some sort of spear just in case she happened across something: she also decided to wear her bag to collect any nuts she might find.

Clarke once again checked the direction of the sun against her watch and after walking for so long made a mark in a tree. Realising that she would have better luck if she could walk silently Clarke looked where she was putting her feet and walked through the forest as quietly as she could.

It didn’t appear to take too long before she came to a small glade and as she stopped to admire the sheer peace and beauty Clarke noticed a deer. It seemed a shame to have to kill it, but they needed to eat. Throwing with all her might, Clarke launched her spear at the poor animal.

The head raised; or rather Clarke should say heads since it had two of them but it was not alert enough to completely evade Clarke’s spear. It ran off with Clarke’s spear piercing its side and Clarke chasing after it as she hoped it was injured enough that it would soon tire.

The man Clarke saw in the trees earlier dropped down from where he was hiding, landing on top of the deer, killing it: broken back or broken neck, Clarke couldn’t quite tell, but none the less, she was grateful.

“Thank you once again” Clarke said. “I don’t know how much further it would have ran if you hadn’t stopped it.”

The man pointed to something attached to a tree further ahead: an awful mask. “No go” he said pointing to the area. “Many traps.”

Clarke looked at the man, the mask and thought about what he said. “You, or your peoples’ hunting area is over there and there are many, probably very dangerous, traps to catch the animals?”

The man nodded.

“Thank you for the warning. Are there lots of warning signs so we can know where to avoid?” Clarke asked.

He nodded again. “Stay close to metal house. Safe.” He helped lift the deer onto Clarke’s shoulders so she would be able to carry it back to the ship. He handed her a knife, Clarke could see that although it was small, it was very sharp; without saying a word. Clarke decided to hide it in her trousers so that no one could decide that they would help themselves to it.

“Thank you. It is a very thoughtful gift. I shall treasure it” Clarke said and the man nodded his acceptance of her words.

The two walked through the forest: she with her load; he looking out and staying alert, his own weapon at the ready. He suddenly stopped her with his finger to his lips. Clarke heard the other people crashing about through the forest on a path that would cross theirs. Clarke was pushed slightly to the side, so she wouldn’t be seen, she assumed; and they waited. When the gang were silent they started to walk again. The next time they stopped, the man pointed to the ship and waved. Before Clarke knew it she was alone with her burden.

Clarke staggered into the camp that was springing up around the drop ship (a few tents, roughly made from the parachute material, were set up), a little more theatrically than was really called for and dropped her load near to where she thought there should be a fire. Seeing that most people appeared to be looking at her as if she were an alien she decided to just get on and do what needed to be done.

Clarke took the knife that the man had given her and thought about what might be the best way to go about preparing the deer to cook. Using what she learned in Earth Skills, History and what she knew about anatomy, Clarke sliced the animal from clavical to perineum. She would have started from the underside of the chin, but since there were two heads she didn’t want to have to make a decision as to which chin to use, she sniggered to herself as she imagined the internal debate about which chin to slice from: a little moment of light relief. She had no rib spreaders so just had to use some brute force to open up the insides.

“Oh my god!” one of the female delinquents cried as she began to vomit on seeing what Clarke was doing. 

“Why would you do that to that poor deer?” another asked as she led her retching friend away.

Assuming that the question was rhetorical, Clarke got to work on pulling out the guts and, thankfully empty, uterus and ovaries. Trying to remember if there were any uses to the parts they couldn’t eat, Clarke put them to one side and got on with removing the organs.

Seeing someone just sitting doing nothing, Clarke asked if they would get something from the ship, like a wall panel that she could put the meat on so it wouldn’t get dirty.

“Get it yourself, Princess” was the rude, and completely thoughtless response.

“Wow, way to go about making friends and influencing people. I guess when the time comes to eat it I can say to you that if you want something to eat you should get it yourself, huh?” Clarke was sarcastic.

The boy, who Clarke had noticed was sharpening some pieces of metal into making knives, got up with an angry smirk and soon returned with a large panel taken from the inside of the drip ship. “How ‘yer gonna cook it?” he asked.

“It depends” Clarke responded. “I’m either going to have to thinly slice the meat and place it on this metal panel in the sun and hope that cooks it or I’m going to have to go out into the forest, again, and get some wood to make a fire. Then I’m going to have to find a way to hold the panel over the fire so that it can take the form of a grill. What do you think would be best?” Clarke decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“You keep on being the butcher, I’ll get some idiots doing nothing to go and get some dried wood and then I’ll see if there are any loose poles or something to make legs for the grill” and his speech, along with his attitude miraculously improved.

Clarke smiled and got on with being the butcher while some sullen youths were sent off to get wood for a fire.

Skinning an animal was a lot harder than she thought it would be. Clarke managed to get the deer skinned but she left too much flesh attached to the hide and not only was it a waste, but it meant that she would have to take the time to ‘shave’ the meat off. Perhaps, if they could find something to use as a pot, she could put the bits of meat in the pot along with the bones to make a soup.

Clarke used the wood collected, and a lot more would be needed, to start the fire. Although she didn’t have a fire lighter herself, after all what would a medic need with a firelighter? But she did know where her dad’s was and she borrowed it to get the fire going. Soon she was joined by the previously sullen boy who carried a metal table with wheels on two legs.

“That is brilliant!” Clarke exclaimed. “How were you able to make this? Is there any chance you would know of something we could use as a pot? I thought we could put the bones in, and the bits of meat I need to scrape of the hide where I didn’t do a very good job of skinning it to make a soup. We also need a few to hold some water. I don’t suppose you happen to know if anyone went looking for water while I was out, do you?”

“Too many questions, Princess” the boy snarled. “First, I got one of the mechanics to make it. I found the stuff and told them what I wanted and why so they did it. I didn’t see anything to use as a pot, but you’re right, we need some so I’ll go and have a look around with that in mind and no, no one went out for water so no soup tonight.”

“Okay, I might have a quick look for some water since we need to stay hydrated. My name is Clarke” and Clarke held out her hand and clearly expected to be told what his was.

“Yeah, yeah, Princess, we all know who you are. I’m Murphy” and he ignored the hand as he walked off back into the ship, but Clarke still decided it was a win.

After Clarke had scraped as much meat from the hide as she could, and sliced the meat into easily cooked portions she wiped her hands, and wonderful knife, on some large leaves before going into the ship to see if Murphy had any luck in finding a bowl. He vented loudly and rudely to her dad about the lack of thought that had gone into this trip and wondered if they needed to rely on junior for everything. Clarke had the awful feeling that she was ‘Junior’. Still it was preferable to being thought of as the princess, Clarke decided.

“I take it no luck in finding a bowl, Murphy?” Clarke asked sympathetically.

“Narr, it seems the so called adults didn’t think things through. Any ideas?” he asked Clarke.

Clarke looked around the ship for something that they could use. The only thing that came close to being suitable to hold water was a crate. “If we have enough parachute material we could line that to hold water but it doesn’t help with the soup, or with bringing water here. You up for a climb?”

Seeing Murphy raise a questioning brow Clarke indicated he should follow her as she went outside and pulled herself up to climb on top of the ship. Murphy followed her. 

“See any water anywhere?” Clarke asked.

“Behind you, walking distance. What’s the plan?” Murphy asked.

“We need another of those panels or two, a very big rock, no, a boulder and something heavy to bend and shape the panels over the boulder to make some sort of bowl. We, if you want to join me, otherwise I take the new probably not very good but better than nothing bowls and hike to the water; we or I drink so that we are not dehydrated and bring some water back for others to drink. We then stand back and be amazed at the complete lack of gratitude.”

Murphy snorted at Clarke’s plan and agreed it was as good as he thought it was going to get.

Murphy persuaded one of the delinquents to oversee the fire while others were to collect wood. He also told one of the others to find a long, thin piece of metal that could be used to flip the pieces of meat as they cooked over the fire. He counted the pieces that Clarke had sliced and he told the others that everyone gets one piece of meat and if they want more they should go and find some out there. Murphy then grabbed one of the girls and told her what they wanted to do to make a water container.

“You two sort out the bowls, I line the crate and see if I can work out a way to put a lid on it so stuff doesn’t accidently fall in it. If nothing else I can just put another panel on top. If you want something to make the bowls, you could always find something to stop you getting burned and hold the panel over the fire for a bit to soften it up, make it a bit more malleable, and bend it over the leg of the ship. There’s plenty of us here to help fold it over” she said.

“Thank you, that’s brilliant” Clarke said. “We could use small scraps of the parachute as a heat resistant material.”

Murphy nodded and went to get two more panels while Clarke and the girl, Zoe but preferred to be called Monroe, went to grab some of the material from the parachutes.

They managed to make three bowls. Murphy suggested that Clarke and another girl, Harper, go and get more apples while he and some others go for the water. It was agreed and that’s what they did without even consulting the adults.

Clarke began to think of Murphy with a new appreciation. 

It wasn’t a lot of food, but Clarke had to admit that it tasted better than anything that she had ever eaten on the Arc. Four fresh from the tree apples, a slice of cooked deer, and fresh from the river water. It was also nice that she was sat with a small group of other teenagers and she wasn’t being insulted. In fact they were all complaining about the adults.

The group that had headed for Mt Weather returned with nothing. There was a river blocking their way and even though they had traversed the banks they found no suitable place to cross. As Clarke had predicted, none of the adults expressed any gratitude for the apples, meat or water.

“Who actually got us the meat?” a guard asked.

“It was Miss Griffin who found the apples and caught the deer” Mrs Green said, managing to sound reluctant to admit it.

“Who’s Miss Griffin?” a delinquent with the guard asked.

“The Princess did the work?” the guard questioned.

“As I have tried to say, my name is Clarke, not Princess and not Miss Griffin” Clarke said a bit miffed; “and yes, I found the apples, brought most of them back myself but Harper helped with some on the third trip, I made a spear which I used to catch the deer, used a sharp piece of metal to skin and slice it, asked for some assistance from Murphy on how to make something that could be used as a grill to cook it, started a fire, thanked Mbege for actually doing the cooking, helped make some bowls for carrying water, thanked the guys who walked to the river to get the water, and at no point did I, or any of my fellow young workers, receive any thanks from any of the so called adults.”

“Miss Griffin” Mrs Green began, clearly cross with Clarke.

“Why are you persisting in calling her Miss Griffin?” Jake asked, feeling chagrined for the fact that his daughter was correct; neither he, nor anyone else that he heard, thanked the kids for doing that work.

“Because it is not appropriate that we should address someone of your station by their given name. I would have thought you would appreciate that” Mrs Green was snide. Her son, Monty, was embarrassed.

“Well, since Clarke has already expressed her preference for being addressed by her given name I think the least we can do is to use it; but if you, for whatever reason, feel the need to be formal then I suppose you really should use her proper title” Jake was snide.

“What, are you really a princess, Princess?” Murphy snickered.

“No, but she is Snr Medic Griffin, until she reaches 18 at which point she will automatically be Dr Griffin” Jake was proud.

“What? How could she possibly be a doctor at 18?” the horrible guard asked. “Does the fact that she is Alpha, or that she is Dr Griffin’s daughter exempt her from having to actually work for the titles?”

For the first time Abby spoke. “No, Clarke passed the Medics’ exam on her 16th birthday, the earliest anyone can sit it. She gained the highest mark in it ever. Since then she has been practicing medicine as a Snr Medic and Apprentice Doctor, and has already passed all the Doctorate exams. She is just not allowed to be a doctor until 18. So as well as thanking her, and the other kids, for the food and water, I think some of you owe her an apology. Not that I expect you to offer one, at least not a sincere one, but I would like to think that you are at least mature enough to not continue with whatever vendetta you all have for Clarke; although I am pleased to see that some of the kids appear to be appreciative of the skills Clarke has and look like being wonderful contributors to our little community. Thank you to all of you who helped provide this excellent food and water” Abby said as she hugged her daughter and gave a squeeze of the shoulder to all the teenagers sat around Clarke.

The next day another party set off to look for a way to cross the river to get to Mt Weather. Clarke thought that even if they did reach the mountain bunker that they wouldn’t find any supplies there. People were obviously living in the land and they would surely have broken into the bunker to get what supplies were there to be had when the world was barren of natural food. However, because she was a kid her views about the likelihood of any supplies already being taken or spoiled were ignored.

Once the ‘Get to Mt Weather’ party had left, the Tech Heads went back into the ship trying to fix the radio or something; the guards who hadn’t left with the Mt Weather party half heartedly walked around the perimeter of the pathetic camp; the farmers went to explore further looking for a place to plant crops and the teenagers looked to Clarke to tell them what the plan was.

“We need more water and more food, obviously, but we also need cabins” Clarke said. “It was very uncomfortable trying to sleep in the drop ship seats, and I know I should be grateful that we had any sort of shelter, but to be frank if the adults had got their act together yesterday we could have at least tried something, so I guess it’s up to us.”

“Okay, but does anyone have any idea on how to build a cabin?” Murphy asked, and then tutted to himself as he caught Clarke’s eye. “Sorry for being so dumb as to ask, Princess” and this time it wasn’t an insult. “Can we have your orders, Captain?” Murphy tried a different nickname.

“First, let’s grab what we can to carry stuff and go to the river to drink and freshen ourselves up. When we get there we can talk in detail, but basically some of us focus on bringing water back to the camp and when the tank is full help some others collect fire wood. Those who know which fruits and berries are edible, and know what onions, potatoes and other vegetables look like from the top take a trip to look for those. Anyone who can help Harper carry more apples go with her to the orchard to collect as many as possible, at least one each for the adults, at least two for us since we’re the ones doing all the work” the latter point receiving sniggers. “If anyone thinks they can set snares to catch rabbits or squirrels, have at it, at least two people working together should have a better job or working it out between them, when that’s done join one of the other parties; we also need a couple of people with spears who can walk silently through the woods to try to catch another deer, or other animal. If there are fish in the river we need a way to try to catch them, maybe some mesh tied to a stick, and then we need a group to help build cabins using skill and brute force.”

Murphy thought about Clarke’s words as they traipsed through the forest. So did the others.

“Why are you deciding who does what?” a girl, Octavia, asked.

“I’m not, I’m just suggesting things. Feel happy to let loose with a better plan” Clarke invited.

Murphy was the only other one to talk. “I think we should wait off on sending out a couple of people to hunt for the bigger animals until we’ve had time to make better spears and can practice with them if we can get some fish for today and maybe some rabbits or squirrels for tomorrow.”

Clarke nodded her agreement: it did make sense. “You’re right, I admit I did get lucky yesterday with the deer, I didn’t kill it outright and ended up having to chase it for a while with the spear stuck in its side – poor thing suffered when it shouldn’t have had to.”

“Okay, when we get to the river, let’s see if there’s any fish and decide who does what” Murphy said.

After a quick wash and drink, with everyone relishing in the feel of real, fresh water running over their skin; they could see that there were fish in the river. Some people talked about how they could make nets to catch enough for everyone to eat and everyone looked to Clarke to answer how to prepare them for cooking. Clarke had to dig deep into her memory to bring to mind a sit com she had once seen where the female lead was teaching the nerdy men how to prepare a fish. It was Murphy who said that once they were gutted they should be able to be cooked on the grill.

It soon came clear who would be the fishers out of the group. Harper asked for a few people to help her collect and carry apples to the camp so that they could then join another group to do something else. Her friends, Fox and Monroe agreed, as did Octavia. Finn said that he was sure he could set some snares and he grabbed another boy and talked him into helping.

When everyone in the group had their allotted tasks they all set off to do what they were assigned. Clarke took a group of boys with her through the forest and pointed out some branches that she thought would be good. Finding some vine type plants was very helpful and Clarke made sure to cut as many strands as she could since they would be needed to tie the roof to the walls.

The larger, sturdy supporting branches were forced into the ground and Clarke started the collection of thinner, supple branches to weave between the supports. They left a gap for a door at both ends. They made the roof waggon style and used the vines to secure it to the walls. It had no doors, yet; it had no floor, yet; and it wasn’t water proof, yet; but the teenagers all felt that they had achieved something great. Whilst they were feasting on grilled fish and apples, the teenagers talked about what they could do to fix the cabin’s shortcomings. Before they finalised their plans they got a shock, one that they should have seen coming, and the lack of foresight was probably as much as a reason for the shock as for the news itself. The adults thanked the kids for building them a cabin, but they would need more and better made ones for everyone so the Engineers were going to take over the building.

“Why don’t you focus on building things for yourselves and let us build for us?” Clarke asked in what she hoped was a reasonable tone.

“Be reasonable, Clarke” Raven started, “we can see you mean well but look at it, it’s pathetic. You need to let the people who know what they’re doing do the work.”

“Okay, I get your point, but I meant mine. If my friends want to wait for you to build a home for them, I dig that, it will probably be much better than anything we can come up with, but the work has started on my home and I want to see it through. I will live in the cabin that we started” Clarke was insistent.

Jake just shook his head in amusement; he knew how stubborn his daughter could be, while Raven snorted in amusement, clearly forgetting that Clarke was also Jake’s daughter as well as Abby’s.

Finn’s snares were successful and reset. They wanted to catch as much meat as they could since it also meant that there would be more fur to make blankets. Harper turned out to be very good at throwing a spear and was able to take down a boar whilst they were practising with their newly made spears! They decided to take the boar to the camp, and keep the rabbit and squirrel meat to dry for later in case they were short another day. Needless to say, they did not tell the adults about that.

They brought stones into the new cabin to be the foundation of a floor so that water would flow through it. A wooden top floor was made using the same method as the walls except using all thinner branches. The same applied to the double doors which were fastened to the walls using the vines. The walls and roof were made water proof by using the parachute material inside (so as not to let the adults see what they were doing, and making sure they had enough for another cabin) and used fir branches outside to make it look more solid and water resistant. A layer of moss was placed on the floor to be a carpet so no boots were worn inside.

Clarke’s medical skills were required to clean and stitch simple cuts and strap sprains. Her medical opinions were not sought on anything else and when offered, were roundly ignored. After trying to point out more than half a dozen times that Mr and Mrs Green were suffering from something, Clarke gave up.

“Finally decided it’s not worth it, Griff?” Murphy asked when he saw Clarke open her mouth to argue her point and then shut it with an audible snap.

“Yes, they don’t want to know so I’m going to leave them to it. I’ll focus on cleaning and stitching cuts and strapping the odd sprain in between trying to find food for us that does not involve apples.” Clarke was lucky, Monty found some wild onions and some potatoes. ‘Yay for a varied diet’ she thought.

The teenagers built their two cabins, one for girls, one for boys, and started to make hammocks from the vines. The hardest part was securing them to the supporting stakes. It was then a matter of making sure everyone had something to keep them warm. More deer and rabbit fur was needed. (The squirrel fur was fine, but there wasn’t much per squirrel so they used that fur to make hats and mittens.) Although it was still late summer, they knew that winter would be upon them quicker than they would like and they needed to prepare as much as they could.

The adults, meanwhile, tried to cut down trees to make solid, picturesque cabins but without the proper tools (thanks, Arc) they took so long to cut down one tree that the teenagers had moved into theirs before the adults managed to build even the foundations. Also, to the surprise of no one who thought about it, the adults never seemed to ask about the fur from the meat that the teenagers provided.

“I bet they think the meat comes pre-skinned” Murphy said, half jokingly when someone wondered why the adults didn’t ask. 

“Finn, has Raven said anything to you about it?” Clarke asked.

“Nope, she spends too much time complaining about ‘know it alls’, meaning you, to actually ask how good our cabins are. Octavia, has Bellamy asked you?” Finn asked as Clarke thought for a moment before remembering the guard with the rude glare.

“No, but he keeps trying to get me to sleep next to him in the ship so he can protect me. He doesn’t realise that I have a knife and now know how to use it, thanks, Murph. He also doesn’t understand how I can take being ordered around by the Alpha Princess. I did try to tell him that Nate didn’t like being called a Princess” Octavia finished to howls of laughter from everyone else. Clarke was so pleased at how well Octavia and she now got along.

Monty had started a herb garden behind the boys cabin. The one thing that Clarke really appreciated from his garden was the mint. Chewing the leaves meant that she, and the other teenagers, didn’t go around with smelly breath. The adults weren’t faring so well.

Camp continued to get along, barely, with the teenagers providing all the food and water, while the adults seemed unable to provide anything that was an actual benefit to the camp. For Clarke and most of the delinquents it was a peaceful, but productive time until one day the away party (still looking for a way to cross the river to get to Mt Weather) came back one man down.

“There’s other people already living here!” Abby cried. 

‘At last’ Clarke thought, ‘now we can really get down to business’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 is not yet written, but the first draft is almost complete and it is long. No idea when it will be fit to post - sorry.


	9. Part 2 (i)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the immediate aftermath of the landing party discovering that they are not alone on the Earth how does Clarke help steer their people on the right path of friendly co-existence?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very sorry but I have to split this story into three chapters since Part 2 would be so long otherwise. I think this chapter ends at a good point to break and is over 6,000 words as it is which is quite long enough (isn't it?). I have no idea when Part 2(ii) will be up, since I have only drafted about a half of it so far, sorry again.

Clarke was constantly amazed at how much people could ignore if what they were seeing or hearing was not what they wanted to see or hear. Clarke had pointed out ages ago the death masks marking the boundary to the other peoples’ hunting area (not that she said it was their hunting area). It was obvious that the masks and other markers were not very old so there had to have been people on the land to put them there. Clarke thought that it was remarkably lucky that no one had stumbled into a village or something. She had seen the watcher up in the trees observing them (and after checking that no one was watching her, Clarke gave him a little wave when she could) and wondered how no one else had seen him. Clarke had also received direction on where to look for other edible plant life, too!

It turned out that the ‘Get to Mt Weather at all costs’ party had found a way to cross the water. Bellamy Blake had found a strong vine that looked like it had been woven (clue or what) and used it to cross the river. He was immediately impaled by a spear and dragged off by some savages.

Clarke immediately went to comfort Octavia and to tell her that they will find Bellamy and bring him back.

“No you won’t, Clarke” Abby shouted. “You will stay right here where you can be protected.”

Clarke didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to actually lie to her mother and say she would stay, but on the other hand, she wasn’t going to obey her either.

“Do you understand, Clarke, you, in fact none of you kids, are going to leave the camp searching for Blake, do you understand?” Abby persisted.

“I understand you” Clarke said.

“Good, now that’s clear we need to decide how we’re going to handle the situation. We really need to get in touch with the Arc. Any progress on that front?” Abby turned away from the teenagers to focus on the mechanics and engineers.

Clarke filtered the adults out and leading Octavia, walked into the girls’ cabin, knowing that the others would follow her.

“What’s the plan, Captain?” Murphy asked.

“Just on dawn when the guard will be asleep, Octavia, you, Mbege and me will leave through our back doors and follow their tracks. I know where they intended to go today so we’ll use that as a starting point. We’ll need to fashion a stretcher of some sort.

“Harper, I need you to go to the orchard in the morning and bring back apples, take someone else with you if you want but say I’m staying there to help pick some since they are now harder to get. If we’re still not back by lunch, I’m joining these three in a hunting party which is why the four of us are missing. Finn, can you make sure you arrange to get some rabbits or something so it looks like we sent out a hunting party? They won’t know who does what. Someone will have to get the water, and maybe fish, too. Should we start on another cabin to use as a sick room if we don’t want to be in the drop ship?” Clarke asked out of left field.

Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces Clarke explained. “We have our own medicines, we’ve made a basic suture kit, and I know I’m actually a better doctor than my mother, she may be the better surgeon, so unless you need to be cut open, I’m better but I do not think I would be allowed to practice in my mom’s area. We need our own room but we will need a raised bed. Can we do it?”

The teenagers all looked around at each other. Eventually Monty said “When we’re not doing anything specific tomorrow can make a start. Just in case, we’ll build a bed before we put the floor in so the bare bones will be ready tomorrow afternoon, if necessary. We won’t have enough material to make it all waterproof, though so I might try to liberate some panels to do the sides. Nate’s dad’ll help us. We’ll do what we can; you worry about getting Octavia’s brother back.”

Not long after the others left the cabin leaving Clarke alone with Octavia talking quietly, Dr Griffin stomped into the cabin without so much as knocking. It was probably the first time one of the adults had entered the teenager’s domain.

“Clarke, we need you get more water” Abby said without so much as an apologetic look towards Octavia.

“Mom! Have you never heard of knocking? You want water, get it yourself. Octavia and I are grieving and we’d like some privacy while we do it” Clarke was cross.

“There’s no need for you to speak to me like that” Abby was astounded: her baby girl had never been so rude to her before, probably it was hanging about with all these delinquents, something she and Jake hadn’t given proper weight to when they decided to come down. “And why are you grieving?”

“Octavia is grieving the loss of her brother, someone she loves and loves her very much. I am grieving the loss of a caring mother, someone who used to care for the feelings of others and wouldn’t have dreamt of invading mine, and others’ privacy the way you just have. So can you please leave us to grieve?” Clarke glared at her mother as she hugged Octavia to her, hoping that Abby believed that the shoulder shakes were due to crying not laughter.

Abby left the cabin feeling roundly told off. It was true, she hadn’t even thought about that poor girl losing her brother like that; and then to barge into someone’s bedroom and completely ignore the grieving teenager. Clarke was right; her caring mother did seem to have disappeared since they landed on this awful savage earth. Earth used to be the dream: more like a nightmare.

Clarke and Octavia were ready to go before daybreak. They were wished luck by the rest of the girls. After tapping on the boys’ door they rubbed their arms and danced on the spot to try to warm up. An odd snippet that Clarke remembered Wells saying once was that it was always coldest just before dawn. She wished he was here to experience it for himself. Murphy and Mbege came out looking disgruntled until they caught sight of the strange dance the girls were doing. 

“It’s to warm us up” Clarke sniped at the amused looks directed at her and Octavia as they set off.

As predicted, the guard was fast asleep at his post so they were able to sneak away quite easily. Clarke didn’t see the watcher in the trees but she did sense his presence so made sure he was aware of where they were going and why. It didn’t take long to reach the spot where Bellamy crossed the river, but he was clearly brought back to their side given the blood on the ground.

They tried to follow the blood trail. They found a warning mask.

“We need to be very careful as we proceed” Clarke said. “Octavia, no matter what you see, proceed with extreme caution. It is very unlikely that a few seconds, or even minutes, of extra thought will lead to an adverse outcome, but rushing in may well do so.”

“Can you repeat that in English?” Mbege asked.

“Go slow and look out for danger” Octavia translated. “The mask is a warning. Let’s crawl and use a stick to feel ahead of us like a blind person used to in the olden days.”

Clarke thought it was a very good idea, and even Murphy looked at Octavia in approval. Mbege just looked perplexed, but did what the others did. Although not the brightest, Mbege was always ready to do anything asked of him, a quality that Clarke thought was underrated by the adults.

“Everyone, stay down” Murphy said. “I see him and I think it’s a trap so stay down and still while I investigate, especially you, Octavia” he warned.

They all looked around and could see exactly what Murphy meant by it being a trap. Octavia drew in a sharp breath and went to get up but was pulled down by Clarke just as they heard Bellamy groan: he was still alive.

“Let Murphy investigate” Clarke warned.

It was as well that they did because Murphy’s stick found the edge of a pit. Further beating with his stick allowed Murphy to reveal the whole of the staked pit in front of Bellamy who was tied to a tree, no doubt as bait to attract something that it was hoped would fall and impale itself on the stakes in the pit. Everyone edged carefully to where Bellamy was secured and using their knives, they cut him down, placing him on the stretcher.

When they were away from the pit Clarke looked over Bellamy.

“This wound has been treated, look; someone applied a poultice of some sort. I wonder what it’s made of: he’ll probably need some more; and some sort or oral anti biotic” Clarke muttered. “Perhaps Monty will know what this is.”

“I think it is made from the sea weed from the lake” Octavia said. “It’s the same shade of red.”

“If you’re right, and I think you probably are, we should be able to make some of the poultice and make a drink to help keep the infection down. Is it too much of a diversion to call in on the way back?” Clarke asked.

“Yeah” Murphy said. “I know where you mean. We’ll get him back and you do your stuff to keep him alive while I grab a few to get some of the weed. Think he’ll be a bit nicer to us if we save his life, O?”

“If he’s not, I’ll kill him myself” Octavia grinned, knowing that her friends wouldn’t require that of her.

When they reached the camp it was to discover that Abby was out with the senior Greens looking for some plants. Clarke was not obstructed at all as she went into the drop ship to raid the medical supplies – not that there were many to take.

Bellamy was laid on the table in the new, half built med room and stripped from the waist up. Clarke examined the wound and decided that he would live as she cleaned him up as best she could.

“He was lucky” Clarke declared. “No major arterial damage and his heart was missed by a centimetre”. Clarke injected a dose of penicillin and one of morphine. As well as the herbal anti biotic, they needed a lot of pain killer. Their supply wouldn’t last long with the amount that Bellamy would need. They also needed to find a way to get some food into him so he didn’t waste away. Clarke knew that Murphy would be able to solve that problem once she outlined her suggestions. Octavia would, no doubt, join her in making sure that Bellamy had round the clock care, and out of affection for Octavia (none for the asshole Bellamy) Clarke knew that the others would also take short shifts to make sure he was treated well.

Before the others arrived with the sea weed, Abby turned up and was shocked that Clarke and her friends had been able to retrieve Bellamy and that he was still alive.

“Clarke, you wasted scarce medical resources in treating him” Abby said. “I’m sorry but I cannot authorise anymore use of resources on this lost cause.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t use any more of your resources. The rest of us ‘kids’ will treat him with the resources we’ve found around here.”

“Clarke, I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, but you have to face the facts, he was speared in the chest and there is no way he will be able to pull through. I know it’s hard, it was always the hardest lesson for us doctors to learn on the Arc, but sometimes you have to make the hard choices and just let some people go so you can save someone else later” Abby tried to sound sympathetic.

“I get that, mom, but we’re not on the Arc anymore and the resources we’ll use are readily available here on the ground. Don’t you worry about it, we’ll look after him, and keep on doing what we’re doing, providing all the food and water for everyone else. You just worry about yourselves, the Green’s will hit rock bottom soon and will need your expertise” Clarke was a little snide wondering if her help will be requested then.

“You’ve mentioned the Greens before, Clarke; what are you trying to say about them?”

“Mom, I’ve been saying it since we arrived: the Greens have been taking something that keeps them high. I’ve no idea how long it will be before they run out of their supply but I’ve noticed that they appear to be trying to wean themselves off them so I think they’re running out. Perhaps you should try to find out what it is they’ve been taking to see if there is a herbal alternative to help them through the withdrawal period. Can you excuse me; I need to work on Bellamy?” Clarke turned her back on a shocked looking Abby.

The red sea weed was brought back to the camp but it came with an injury: there was some sort of large water snake that attacked Jasper as he was collecting the weed. The others managed to scare the snake off and rescue Jasper and the weed.

Clarke asked Monty to make a poultice with some of the weed and set some to dry to make a tea as she looked at Jasper’s leg. It wasn’t too badly injured but she decided to put in some stitches as a precaution, warning that it would hurt.

Once the poultice was made, Clarke asked if Monty could find some of the plant that they used to make the pain killer so that she could give a little to Jasper to help him sleep at night until his leg was better and to keep Bellamy pain free. Some of the poultice was rubbed into Jasper’s stitched leg as a precaution while some was put on Bellamy’s wounds. Octavia, Murphy and Harper said that they would return to get some more the next day, and try to kill the snake and serve it to the adults for dinner. Instead of gathering around the fire that evening, they crowded around the sick bed.

They talked about what they would all do the next day, automatically making sure that there would be sufficient water for the camp, food for everyone and a fire; as well as making special allowance for taking care of Bellamy and working on their med bay. Clarke was excused outside work since she would spend most of the time with Bellamy, but she pointed out that she could do the prep work on the medications, and press the fruits to get the juice to feed Bellamy. Murphy said that he would make sure that there was nutritious soup for him in the evening too.

Octavia opted to spend the night with Bellamy, making sure he didn’t fall off the bed. She got her fur to keep him warm. Harper touched her arm and said “You were up early this morning, go and get a bit of sleep in my hammock and I’ll come to get you in a few hours to take over: go on” Harper encouraged when Octavia looked like she was about to argue, “you’ll be no good to him if you fall asleep on top of him. I promise I’ll come and wake you when I start to feel too tired.”

Sat on the dirty floor of their med bay, Clarke realised how proud she was of all her new friends, they were proving themselves to be so much more than any of the adults ever thought they could be. A few tears escaped her eyes as she thought about it.

“’Sup Griff?” Murphy asked, sounding concerned.

“Nothing, honest, it’s just that you guys are just brilliant. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to come here without you. I’m just so lucky to have you all” Clarke said.

“Aww, damn, Princess, you’ll make me cry if you say sappy stuff like that” Nate said.

“Yeah, what he said” Monroe added.

“But we love you, too” Harper said as she gave Clarke a hug. “You go and get some sleep too since you’ll be up early in the morning to check on Bellamy. Don’t worry about anything else, we’ll take care of it.”

Clarke returned the hug and went to do exactly as Harper suggested.

The next day Bellamy was groaning and clearly in pain. The feeding of the pain killers that the delinquents had had the effect of making him delirious, talking about how much he loved his little sister and that he was sorry he couldn’t protect her. Clarke was able to get some of the anti biotic tea down him, as well as some fruit juice. Bellamy clearly didn’t know who she was, except he thought she was an angel. During the day, various people came in to measure up for the floor, and begin laying the stones. Clarke was given a few breaks so that she could go and stretch and use the latrine.

The only adult who came to see how Bellamy was doing was David Miller, Nate’s dad and Bellamy’s boss. He thanked Clarke for all she was doing for everyone and said that he was proud of how all the youngsters had pulled together to look after everyone. He asked if there was anything he could do to help them.

“I know it doesn’t sound like much, but if you could sometimes bring a bit of wood for the fire, or any stones you come across in the forest so that we can get a floor down in here, that would help a great deal. Someone said that you might help us get a few metal panels so that we can make sure it is water proof; that would also be very helpful.”

David Miller just nodded his head, grasped Bellamy’s shoulder and left.

Jake popped into the med bay to have a quick word with Clarke. He said that even if Bellamy didn’t survive, he wanted Clarke to know that he was proud of her for trying to save him.

Abby didn’t come by at all.

That night as the teenagers gathered to talk Clarke raised the question of making contact with the locals and asked if anyone knew if the adults had any plans.

“They’re focussing on trying to make contact with the Arc and to get their opinion on what they should do” Nate said. “Dad just shook his head when he was telling me.”

“Yeah” Finn agreed. “Raven thinks that Abby should be more proactive down on the ground in case they never get through. She’s starting to think that she chose the wrong group.”

“What if we tried to make contact?” Clarke asked. “We could go to some places that we know they go near and write short notes on the trees, or maybe leave a drawing of the sun high in the sky with some of us in the picture of a particular place. It would be a lot easier if I had some paper and pencils rather than a stick and wood, but it’s doable.”

“Erm, I know where I can get some paper and pencils” Finn said a bit sheepishly. “I found this small bunker that Rae and I sometimes go to. It has a few books and pencils. I’ll bring them to you tomorrow.”

“What if they attack us?” Harper asked.

“I don’t think they will” Clarke said. “They clearly could, and the only one they did attack they did so when he crossed the river, none of the rest of us have been attacked; and let’s face it, we’re not exactly hard to find. I think it will be better if we go and try to make friendly contact rather than wait for the adults to decide they need to go out all guns blazing. We don’t know how many people there are here, or where. All we know is that there are some people who live here who are good with spears.”

“She’s right” Nate sighed. “I think a few of us should go to where we found Bellamy and just sit with our hands in the air to show we’re not going to attack and every so often one of us call out to say that we would like to talk. If there’s no response, say that we’ll be back the next day and then do the same. At least then we can say we tried.”

Clarke wanted to be one of those that went to try to make contact but was voted down because she was needed to look after Bellamy. It was finally agreed that Nate, Octavia and Jasper would go in the first instance and would stay for about two hours.

The first attempt at making contact was a bust. The second was successful.

“His name is Lincoln and he said that there are 12 clans in the coalition and that we have landed in Trikru territory. He said that we were lucky because if we had landed in Azgeda we would have been killed on sight, and if we had reached Mt Weather, the people there would have killed us” Octavia said with a dreamy expression on her face. “He said that their Commander, Heda, would come to meet with our leader in three days’ time to discuss what is to happen to us since we can’t stay where we are, and don’t’ tell your mom, but we were described as mostly useless and unprepared.”

Clarke laughed, what else could she do, they were mostly useless and definitely unprepared.

Abby was not thrilled that the kids had made contact with the grounders: nor was she pleased to be told that their leader would come to meet with her to discuss what is to be done with them. Abby was of the view that they alone should decide what they do.

“Mom, they have been watching us since we landed, right in the middle of someone’s land. What do you think would happen if someone tried to dock onto the Arc without seeking or gaining permission? Don’t be hypocritical. Just be grateful that we didn’t land in the lands of someone who would kill the invaders on sight, because that is what we are, mom; we’re the invaders” Clarke tried to get Abby to see reason.

Lincoln spoke to Octavia while she was out with Nate to let them know where the meeting should take place and when. There was a small clearing to the east where they would meet when the sun was at its highest. Their leader could bring who ever she wanted. Heda would bring her personal guard as well as Anya, the leader of Trikru and her second. Again Abby was not pleased at being told what to do and where to go.

Abby attended the meeting flanked by her husband, Jake, and the senior guard, David Miller. At the suggestion of a few others, Clarke blended in with Nate, Monty, Raven, Hannah Green and a couple of the other guards while the other teenagers stayed to make sure that Bellamy was looked after and all the other chores were carried out. It made Clarke feel even more proud to be part of the group that did that rather than completely forget about the day to day necessities.

At the clearing everyone was shocked at the sight of the woman that they thought had to be Heda. A very young, beautiful, but fiercely strong woman; surrounded by many strong warrior types. Clarke looked in the trees to see many more people hiding, with bows and arrows pointing straight at them. Lincoln, standing to the side of Heda, caught Clarke’s eyes, knowing what she had seen and smiled reassuringly at her.

“I am Lexa kom Trikru, Commander of the 12 clans of the kongeda, are you the leader of the sky people?” Heda asked.

“Yes, I am Dr Abby Griffin, leader of the landing party. Forgive me, but I was told that we were to meet Heda” Abby wanted to sound unafraid and in control, but in the face of the fierce looking savages in front of her, she couldn’t quite pull it off.

“Heda means Commander in our language. I will be pleased to be addressed by either Heda or Commander. With me is Anya, leader of Trikru who own this area, her second, Tris, and some of Anya’s warriors” Heda pointed to tall woman, with cheekbones that looked like they could cut metal. She then pointed to a man, bigger than any that Clarke had ever seen, and said “This is Gustus, my chief personal guard, and other warriors from the guard. I was told that the leader of the sky people was a young woman with pale hair.”

Clarke, and everyone else, knew that it was she to whom the Commander referred and the few sky people who knew Clarke was there turned as one to look to her. The Commander followed the eyes and saw the Sky Princess for the first time.

“Sky Princess, it is you who I am told is the leader of your people; why do you hide behind these other people?” the Commander asked.

Abby, looking incredibly affronted was about to tell this person a few truths only to be stopped by Jake’s hand on her arm and a decisive shake of his head.

Clarke gulped. “I am truly not the leader, but I understand why you would be so informed. My name is Clarke Griffin, my mother, Abby is the leader, and my father, Jake is the second. I help lead the youngsters of our group.” Clarke hoped that she was tactful enough so as not to offend anyone.

“Are you the one who organised the food and water for your people?” the Commander asked.

“Well, yes” what else could Clarke say?

“Are you the one who went to retrieve your person who was warned away from crossing the river to the mounen?”

“With others, yes.”

“Are you the one who has helped provide shelter for your people?”

“The others of my group did most of the physical work” Clarke was honest.

“What did your Abby do to provide for your people?” the Commander asked the question that Clarke really did not want to answer honestly.

“Hang on a minute, young lady” Abby could not be restrained. “Just because I didn’t go and get water for everyone, my job was to get us to Mt Weather where we were assured supplies awaited us. It was you lot that prevented me from reaching our goal.”

Clarke sighed, along with most others who knew that Abby should not have verbally attacked the Commander. Clarke saw that the Commander had used a hand signal to stop her guards from responding to Abby’s disrespect.

“Abby, put a sock in it, can’t you?” Jake muttered. “You know we left the kids to do everything. She’s just acknowledging what happened.” Jake then looked to the Commander to speak again. “My apologies, Commander, it is much to our shame that we did not carry out our duty to our people the way Clarke did. Our lives have been spent following our orders so we find it hard to adjust to unforeseen situations. The children were not given any orders before we landed, we adults were. We were hampered by our ingrained response to always try to do that which we were instructed: the children had no such instructions to get in their way of doing what needed to be done.”

“What children? We saw no children” the Commander looked at Lincoln.

“I believe that to the sky people the Princess and her people are regarded as children” Lincoln explained.

“Oh; once someone has seen 12 years, they are no longer a mere child here. When 14 they are a full adult” the Commander said. “I shall speak with the Princess of the Sky to reach agreement on what must happen.”

“Clarke does not have the power to agree to anything” Abby pushed. “I barely have the power, and even then it could be over ruled once we make contact with the Arc.”

“Then there is no point in reaching any agreement with you if you will not adhere to the terms” the Commander said.

“Mom” Clarke interjected before Abby could get them all killed; “let me talk with the Commander. The Commander understands me and my actions, she has no reason to understand yours. Communication is key. Now that dad has explained somewhat, I understand your point of view more now, and I also understand the Commander. We are more likely to be able to converse without unnecessary tensions hampering communication. Perhaps we cannot reach a binding agreement, but perhaps we could form a clear understanding.”

Abby looked at her daughter with pride, fear and bafflement. “You can’t enter into negotiations, Clarke; you’re a child with no knowledge as to what we need.”

“We are no longer on the Arc, mom, on the earth I am not a child. We need somewhere for the rest of the people from the Arc to land; we need somewhere for us to be able to build homes and make a life for our people; we need to know how we can achieve that without the people already living here losing out and without them thinking we are so not worth the trouble that they decide to just kill us all. I think I have the basics of what we need, mom, and I think I have a better chance of getting our needs met than you do, especially the latter point” Clarke was exasperated.

Jake snorted. “She’s got you there, hun. Let Clarke talk with the Commander and see if she can reach an understanding that results in us not getting killed. Some of these fellows look like they’re ready to run you through for the way you’ve spoken today, Clarke is a lot more diplomatic.”

Abby finally took a good look around and spotted what Clarke saw as soon as they arrived. There were scores of archers in the trees; there was possibly more people hiding in the woods and they all looked like they knew how to wield their weapons.

“Okay, Clarke, you managed to get all the delinquents on your side. Go work your magic, but first,” and Abby turned from Clarke to look straight at the Commander. “I trust that I have your word that my daughter will be safe while she talks on our behalf?”

The Commander looked like she grew taller and stronger and she glared at Abby most affronted. “I have honour! While she is talking with me, unless you strike first, the Princess will be safe in my company. Lincoln, you are charged with ensuring the safety of the Sky Princess, are you assured of your safety, Princess?”

“I am most happy to place my safety in care of Lincoln” Clarke said as she walked up to the Commander.

The closer Clarke got to the Commander, the more she was able to see, able to feel the energy that the Commander radiated. In fact, Clarke thought, the Commander was the most beautiful person that she had ever seen. When she was in touching distance, Clarke held out her hand, looked into the Commanders eyes and said “Hello, Commander. My name is Clarke and it is a privilege and an honour to meet you.” On seeing the puzzled looks that her hand was receiving, Clarke smiled and said “When we are meeting people for the first time, people with whom we wish to enjoy an amicable, but business like relationship as a start, we tend to shake hands as a sign of faith. I completely understand if this is not a practice that you share.”

“No, Sky Princess, we will shake hands as a sign of good faith as per your customs, and if we reach agreement, we shall seal it as per our customs” the Commander offered and went to shake Clarke’s hand with hers.

Clarke was about to say something casually appropriate but all thoughts left her mind when her hand touched the Commander’s. 

Clarke looked into the Commander’s eyes in shock.

The Commander was looking into Clarke’s eyes equally shocked.

There was a hum of electricity moving between them; joining them; leaving them both so sure that they were meant to be together. There was no gainsaying it.

“How long do we shake?” the Commander asked.

“As long as we want, but it would probably look better to everyone else if we were to stop now” Clarke replied.

The Commander let go of Clarke’s hand, only to take it again to lead her to a point away from everyone and said, “please, sit so that we may talk.”

Clarke didn’t hear the indrawn breaths from the Commander’s people as Clarke sat first. Nor did she see the looks of astonishment as the Commander sat beside Clarke and took her hand again.

Whilst Clarke and the Commander were talking, everyone else standing about, not knowing what to do with themselves until Jake grabbed his wife’s hand and went to sit on the ground too. “We should have brought a picnic” he said jovially.

The rest of the Arc people snorted, either in derision or amusement, no one could be sure, and sat on the ground as well, chatting as best they could as they pretended to ignore the physical closeness of Clarke and the Commander.

“So we are agreed, then?” the Commander asked.

“Yes, I will put it to my people emphasise the generosity of your people in taking the burden of providing for us away from us, provided we do all we can to find gainful employment with your people, even if it is to be temporary. They won’t like that they have to lose their guns. Could we reach a compromise in that if they are under attack from reapers or the mountain men that Anya may release the guns to the guards? They will be the best defence against them” Clarke asked.

“Very well, but you must emphasise to them that if they are used on my people, death by a thousand cuts awaits them.”

“I will and thank you, Lexa. Thank you for your generosity and for your patience. I know that 36 days is not long, really, but it will feel like an eon while we are separated. Once I have reached the age of 18, there is nothing that my people can do to prevent me from joining with you without breaking their own laws.”

“Then, for you my love, I will learn patience. Come, let us tell of our plan” and the Commander leapt up lithely and held out a hand to assist the sky Princess to her feet. “Lincoln, Trey, until I so release you, you are hereby designated the personal guard of the sky princess. You will see that she comes to no harm, and assist in any way that you can to ease her burdens, but not to do all the work for them, just guide. Is that clear?”

“Sha, Heda” was said by both Lincoln and another guard, this one taken from the Commander’s personal guard.

“I await your peoples’ response to our talks. Princess” and with a nod to Abby and Jake the Commander turned to leave, her people (except for Lincoln and Trey) following behind.

“Clarke, what was said? Tell me everything” Abby demanded.

“Let’s get back to camp and I’ll explain it all then so I only have to say it the once” Clarke suggested as she turned to begin the trek back.

“What do you mean say it the once?” Abby asked. “You only need to tell me and I will determine what to tell the others, not you.”

Jake took his wife’s arm, wondering when Abby had become so shrill, and said quietly. “You need to stop antagonising everyone, especially Clarke. You may be the Councillor of the landing party, but Clarke is clearly in charge and you have to admit that she has done a damned fine job of it.”

“But she is just a child, Jake. Our child!” Abby would not give way.

“Then we should not have left her with the responsibility of looking after us all if she was just a child. But we did and clearly she has grown up beyond being just anything. We raised her well, Abby and now we have to trust her; trust the good sense that she has displayed since the moment we landed here. Nothing binding has been agreed so it won’t do any harm for everyone to listen to what was said. You can add your two penneth worth once Clarke has talked. She was right about the Greens when you wanted believe that nothing was wrong; she was right to save Bellamy when you wanted to let him die; she was right to take care of the other kids when you were happy to ignore them; so let her be right about this, too.”

Abby hated that her husband was right, about everything. Clarke was clearly more of a leader than she was, but how could she possibly allow her child to take the leadership from her and retain any respect from the others?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if you think Abby should be nicer but I really don't like canon Abby and I guess my stories reflect that! Raven, too, can be a bit sanctimonious and so she is here, but she does come round to the light eventually.
> 
> I'm not going to cover the Greens going through withdrawal, but you can know it will happen off page, so to speak.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has left kudos for this work - it is very much appreciated, and when I discover that someone liked my writing enough to leave a kudos, it gives me a little buzz of excitement, so again, thank you.


	10. Part 2 (ii)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans are made and executed to allow for the people of the Arc to come to earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final part of this short story.

Once back at the camp Clarke went immediately to look in on Bellamy.

“How is he doing, Octavia?” Clarke asked.

“He is doing very well and would appreciate you not talking about him as if he wasn’t here” Bellamy grumbled.

“As you can tell, he is awake and grumpy” Octavia said. “The infection appears to have gone, fever down, temperature feels normal, was assisted to use the portable latrine, complaining all the while about his loss of dignity, and managed to keep some broth down.”

“That is excellent” Clarke said. “We’ll have a camp meeting around the fire in a few minutes, once everyone else is back; will you be up for sitting in on it if you have some assistance to get there?” Clarke looked to Bellamy.

“Yeah” Bellamy agreed. “O told me where you were this morning so I guess I should be there.”

“It was great” Raven interrupted. “The Commander clearly thought that Clarke was our leader and would only talk to her since she respected her and had none for Abby. Can’t wait to hear what you and Hot Stuff agreed for us.”

“Hot Stuff?” Octavia asked.

“Yeah, the Commander is a young gorgeous woman. In fact all of them that we saw appear to be rather hot; it must be the work outs they do; they ooze strength: like I said, hot” Raven explained with a shrug.

Clarke ignored the point about the relative hotness of the Commander and asked Raven if she would be able to get a seat from the ship for Bellamy to sit on by the fire. Raven was a little shocked to be asked to do something so simple, but so clearly necessary. For the first time, Raven looked around the cabin that was serving as a med bay: she was impressed given that she knew it had been put up quickly and wondered what the sleeping cabins were like. When she found out she felt very ridiculous for the way she reacted to the teenagers’ building skills. The cabin that she was so scathing of previously was obviously just a shell at the time and was now a cosy place to sleep. ‘I definitely picked the wrong team’ she thought.

After seeing that Bellamy was situated comfortably, or at least as comfortably as could reasonably be expected, Clarke went to touch base with the rest of her people. She was so pleased that there appeared to be nothing lacking: there was some food (fish and berries), water, and wood for the fire. When everyone had their food and drink Clarke prepared to talk.

“The Commander of the 12 clans, Lexa of Trikru said that she welcomes us to earth and is sorry to hear about the failure of the life support systems on the Arc so understands the need to bring all the people down. However, she points out that the land we are on can support the addition of 100 of us, but it could not support the addition of over 2,000 and she cannot allow her people to suffer for ours, no matter how much she would like to help us”.

“So what, then Clarke? Are we supposed to just allow everyone still up in the Arc to die?” Abby asked.

“No, mom, if you would let me finish speaking you will find out what the Commander proposes, and why.” Seeing her mom look at the floor, possibly in embarrassment, Clarke continued.

“Mt Weather is currently inhabited by people who cannot leave the mountain except in radiation suits. For whatever reason, every so often they send out their people to raid the nearby villages. They take people, not possessions. Most of the people taken are never seen again. The ones that are, well, they are the ones that were the strongest warriors and the mountain men do something to them that turns them into blood thirsty cannibals – the grounders call them reapers. Crossing the river to the mountain is an absolute no no. Getting that close to the mountain results in them sending acid fog. This acid fog burns humans, and exposed animals, but does not harm plants. After the fog has cleared, the reapers will usually come round to pick off any nearly dead humans to eat.” Clarke had to break off there for the sounds of disgust and retching and people digested her words. When she thought it was safe, Clarke carried on talking.

“We are very close to the mountain. We were lucky to have landed in the exact spot we did: if we were closer to the mountain they would have killed us; if we were a few clicks north we would have landed in Azgeda territory who have the policy of killing all invaders without credentials on sight; if we had landed a few clicks east, we could have burned down a Trikru village, or even taken out TonDC, which no doubt used to be Washington DC, and then Trikru would have killed us; if we had landed a few clicks south we would have landed in Blue Cliffs territory which would not be so bad except for the fact that there is no vegetation and very few animals in that area so the environment would have killed us. Dad, does it seem like someone is blocking our radio signal, or is our radio so bust?”

“I think it is something blocking the signal, why?” Jake asked.

“I think Mt Weather is blocking it. The Commander said that the mountain people always know when they try to get close to the mountain to attack so they clearly have the technology and they probably don’t want thousands of people to come down to try to take their resources. It is just a guess, but …”.

“Yeah, it makes sense sweetie” Jake agreed. “So what does the Commander suggest?”

“She suggests that you strip as much tech from the ship as you can and you, Raven and others move to Polis, their capital where other tech that they don’t use will be given to you so that you can try to make contact with the Arc hopefully being far enough away from the reach of the mountain. The Commander says that homes will be provided for everyone who wishes to go and efforts will be taken to help everyone find gainful employment. Farmers, she suggests, stay with the people of TonDC so that they can be found farm work. They need information on what everyone can do, or wants to do to help with employment placement. She suggests we move as soon as possible because we are close enough to the mountain to be on borrowed time and she will not defend us against them, nor does she think that we are prepared for winter. We have invaded her land and she does not want us to stay where we are but while she will not force us off, nor will she assist us to stay. If we were to somehow take the mountain, she said we could live there and we would be granted an area around it, however, she does not think we would succeed since no one ever has. If we are able to make contact with the Arc, she suggests they land somewhere to the west, old Montanna, Idaho, Washington State and Oregon. There may be people there but they are not many or in set clans the way her thousands and thousands of people are. Anymore landing in her territory will be classed as a hostile invasion and she will react accordingly.” Clarke stopped talking.

“You look like there is something else you want to say, sweetie” Jake said.

“Yeah, when I mentioned what I do she offered me a job at their Healers’ Centre in Polis: I accepted.”

“Clarke! You can’t just accept another job with this woman like that!” Abby screeched.

“I know, that is why I told her that I might not be able to take up her offer for another 36 days which is when I turn 18 and become a free adult by all Arc laws. I don’t understand why you would not want me to go given that I don’t really have a job here now, but I do accept that it is your right to say that I can’t, yet” Clarke was stoic.

“Of-course we want you to do a job that you want and are qualified for, sweetie” Jake said. “Who else do you think should go to Polis?”

“Everyone who wants to, but whether you want to or not, I think you and Raven should go, at least until you’ve been able to set up communication with the Arc. If it is Mt Weather blocking the signal, then the further away from there the better” Clarke replied.

“I want to go. I’ve never seen a city before” Murphy said.

“Yeah me too” from Jasper.

“And me” from Monty.

“You are not going, Monty” Mrs Green said. “You are Farm Station and will stay with Farm Station people and be a farmer.

“Mom, you know I want to be a computer engineer, why would you do this to me?” Monty asked.

“He’s right” Mr Green said, probably the first time Clarke had heard him speak against his wife. “Our Monty is all about computers so we should let him help Jake and Raven. We forced the kids to come down here and then practically abandoned them, we should let them choose.”

“Alright, those who want to go to Polis on the terms Clarke set out, raise your hands” Jake said as Abby stayed silent.

All the delinquents’ hands were raised as were most of the adults, including Bellamy’s who was unsuccessful in getting Octavia to lower hers first.

“I’m not sure I want to go, but since my husband and daughter will be there, I will” Abby finally said. “I trust that I will also be able to work in the Medical Centre?”

“I’m sure you will, Mom. There is one thing that we all should do, wherever we end up, and that is to learn the local language. Lincoln, would you and Trey help us get started on learning common phrases while we pack up?” Clarke asked.

“Sha, Prisa. That means ‘Yes, Princess’” Lincoln replied. “I am sure that your nomon will be able to work as a Fisa.”

“Mother, Healer?” Clarke asked.

“Sha.”

Clarke beamed.

Lincoln and Trey helped Clarke get Bellamy back to their med cabin. Lincoln said that he often assisted his friend, Nyko who was the fisa for TonDC and would like to know how they have treated Bellamy since he should be dead.

Clarke, trying not to get upset as the casual way Bellamy’s death was spoken of, talked Lincoln through the steps they had taken. He was impressed at ingenuity and was sure that Clarke would have a very successful career; he was not so sure about her mother who appeared too highly strung to make a good healer. Lincoln would learn in time that although Abby was not a good leader, she was a great Healer.

Lincoln and Trey talked about the sort of jobs that they could be trained for and a number of the delinquents expressed delight thinking of a glowing future in their chosen field. The biggest surprises to Clarke were Murphy who wanted to be a cook, and Bellamy who said he would like to be a teacher. Octavia endorsed Bellamy’s view pointing out that he the patience of a saint when dealing with unruly children. It was only the adults who had no idea how to be something other than what they had been brought up and trained to be who had a problem with trying to think of a job they could do on earth. Clarke hoped that the Arc could all be brought down safely in an area agreed so that those wanting to could meet up with them rather than feel so isolated as they seemed to currently.

Clarke asked her dad if they could make a couple of long distance walkie-talkies so that the Greens in TonDC would not feel quite so cut off if they could keep in contact with their son and the landing party leader.

“Actually, yeah” Jake said. “That’s a good idea, sweetie. I’ll start on them tonight. If the mountain is blocking our transmissions to the Arc, then a much lower frequency should go completely unnoticed. Well done, you certainly know the right questions to ask to get the result you want. I’m proud of you.”

Whilst Clarke was with Bellamy in the night, Lincoln stayed with her and Trey slept in her hammock. Whilst Clarke was sleeping and someone else was with Bellamy, Trey stayed awake on guard while Lincoln slept in the hammock of the person with Bellamy. At first it was strange having a guy be in the same room as the girls were sleeping, but Trey and Lincoln didn’t seem to think that there was anything odd about it so they just ignored it.

The next day a horse drawn cart was brought to collect those who would stay in TonDC and learn farming on earth. There were only the senior Greens and two guards. The guards were not happy that they were not allowed to carry their guns. Clarke did apologise for not telling them earlier but guns, or faya guns as Trikru called them, were banned on coalition lands but she did negotiate an agreement whereby they would be kept secure and then handed back to the guards if they were under attack from the mountain. If it took three skilled warriors to fight one reaper, the sky people wouldn’t stand a chance without their guns. It was only as they were pulling out that Clarke remembered to warn the guards what would happen if the guns were ever fired at the coalition people. Their gulp of fear was audible.

The rest of Skaikru, as Clarke informed them they had been named, began dismantling everything they could in the drop ship: all electronics had to go with them; the few tools that they had would be needed; and metal panels would also be good to go with them. Everyone elected to go to Polis rather than stay in a small camp and have to provide everything for themselves.

The adults had only their personal bags with one change of clothes. The teenagers had their bag plus their beds and the parachute material. Personal knives were, of-course, carried on their person at all times and Clarke added her med kit with locally sourced medicines and equipment. She couldn’t wait to begin her work in the centre.

When the cabins were emptied, the teenagers went to say their farewells. It was hard for all of them. For most, it was the closest thing they had ever had to a real home; somewhere they were loved and accepted.

The trip to Polis was slow, mainly due to the inability of the adults to walk for more than half an hour without complaining that they were tired. The Trikru guides were a lot more patient than Clarke and her friends were.

“It’s supposed to take us only three days to walk there, but at this rate it will take at least a week!” Murphy complained.

“I know, they do nothing but complain about the long journey and we haven’t even been walking for half a day. This is ridiculous, I’m going to have to say something when we stop for lunch” Clarke declared.

“Yeah, but how do you think they’re gonna react when they discover that lunch will not magically appear?” Murphy smirked.

“Oh, heck; it’s gonna be a nightmare” Clarke lamented.

And it was. The adults could not understand that they were walking too slowly. They had not realised that the teenagers had improved their strength and fitness levels to the point they had. And they were really upset when Clarke pointed out that they only had enough dried lunches for three days and they would have to hunt each evening for something to eat each night and for breakfast so if they didn’t pick up the pace then they would be given no food since she was not going to let her people starve when they had done the work to get the food in the first place.

There was a few seconds of silence after Clarke’s words before a quiet “That’s telling ‘em, Princess” from Bellamy.

“You be grateful that you’re still injured and are excluded from that promise. You still get fed even if it’s the last food we have. I’m going to look for food while the rest of you carry on. Harper, Lincoln and Murphy; you’re with me. We’ll catch the rest of you up before nightfall hopefully with more food. Finn, when camp is set, go outside the perimeter to set some snares, Monty and Jasper, keep an eye out for some fruit, berries and nuts and let the others know so that they can take a few minutes to pick some before catching up with the adults. Sterling, Atom; when the camp site is chosen you are responsible for setting the fire – remember to make a safe pit first. Octavia, keep an eye on Bellamy; if it looks like his stitches are pulling, notify my mom to see if she can do something, if not wait and until I catch you up and I’ll sort it out. Everyone, watch where you’re putting your feet. We’ll see you soon.”

Clarke led her little gang away, almost doubling back from where they came.

“Well that gets us away from the complainers for a while” Murphy said, pleased as everyone else snorted.

“And hopefully they’ll be too tired to talk once we catch up with them again” Clarke added.

“I really don’t think it’s possible for them to be too tired to complain” Harper suggested.

It actually didn’t take them long to catch two deer.

“We can tell them we’re walking ahead to set up camp” Lincoln suggested after Murphy complained about how little time they would spend away from the adults.

“Yeah, good idea” Clarke agreed. “We can drag Finn, Atom and Sterling ahead with us.”

Clarke and Murphy each carried a deer over their shoulder while Harper and Lincoln acted as guards. They strode through to the main group and Clarke announced what they were doing and why. “It means you have to keep going until you reach our camp site so don’t dawdle” Clarke instructed. “Fox, Monroe, grab some bowls so that we can have some hot water waiting at the camp to make a tea for them. Come on, no need to hang around!”

Soon the group sped off ahead, leaving the adults to stare at them in amazement at how their burdens didn’t seem to be slowing them down at all.

“You should be so proud of her, Jake” Raven said as she felt shame for the way she had spoken to and about Clarke in the past.

“I am, but I’m also ashamed that she had to be so strong. What do you think the response would be if any of us had tried to order the kids around like that?” Jake asked.

“They would tell us where to go, and rightly so” Raven said. “They follow her because she is asking nothing from them that she hasn’t already given herself and they know what side their bread is buttered on. Butter, do you think they have butter in Polis?” Raven asked as an aside.

Jake smirked at the mechanic and suggested she ask Trey.

They eventually reached Polis. No one had been lost and no one had been murdered. Both were very close run things. Murphy very nearly stabbed Abby at one point; stopped only by Clarke’s raised brow.

“I get it, Murph, I really do” Clarke said to him later. “I know my mom can be a judgemental, sanctimonious jerk, but you can’t kill her. You would be executed on the spot and there would be nothing I could do to save you; so I’m begging you, please do not let what my mom says bother you. Do what I do and just don’t listen to her.”

Murphy didn’t know whether to be embarrassed, pleased or amused. He decided to choose the latter and agreed to pretend that Abby’s talking was just awful music “like that opera crap” he said forcing Clarke to make sure she played some beautiful opera for him one day.

It actually didn’t take long for Skaikru to prove themselves useful. As a happy by-product of wanting to check the cable connections to the antenna that was already mounted at the top of the Polis tower, the Engineering team fixed the elevator so that it ran on solar powered electricity. They had to clear out all the desiccated skeletons from the car but it made getting to the higher floors quicker and easier.

And they were able to connect with the Arc.

Chancellor Jaha was not pleased at being told that they had to land to the west of the old USA when he wanted to be on the east coast for some snobbish reason. He was almost scathing of the idea that there would be thousands of people already living there. Abby admitted that she hadn’t seen thousands, but in the one town they were staying in there were definitely many hundreds. 

Their conversation was suddenly broken off. Jake, Raven and Monty tried to fix the connection but a loud crack as another ship entered the atmosphere suggested to them that the fault was up in space not on earth.

“I told you what would happen if more of you came down into my territory” the Commander was incensed.

The Commander, Jake, Abby and Clarke watched as the ship fell to the ground. It was not slowing down. No parachutes had been deployed. They watched as it crashed into the side of a mount. “Mt Weather” the Commander whispered. “You’ve woken the sleeping giant. Use your communication device, I must speak with Anya.”

Jake used the walkie-talkie to reach one of the guards staying with the Greens. On being told that it was imperative that they reach Anya kom Trikru immediately so that she could speak with the Commander, the guard went running. It took only five minutes for Anya to be talking to the Commander. None of Skaikru could understand the fast paced trig being spoken.

“Anya will arm your guards with their guns. It is likely that they will be attacked tonight. Why did they send more down when you explicitly told them not to?” the Commander asked.

“I think that it was not intended” Jake replied. “We are in a geo-synchronous orbit. That means we are always above the same area of the world. I think that that bit fell away from the Arc since it must have detached at the time our conversation was cut off. I’m afraid that we are too far away for us to see what had fallen. We had been focussing so much on trying to solve the oxygenation problem that we missed other maintenance. If it is as I thought then they will have to work to connect the communications and check on other work not carried out. I could apologise, Commander, but we both know that it wouldn’t help anyone. If you can think of anything we can do to help, please let us know.”

“I want some of these talking things so I can communicate with my people quickly” the Commander demanded.

“Of-course, Commander. Should we make more than one set?” Jake was thinking about the Commander wanting to communicate with the leaders of the other 11 clans.

“Not yet, I have another task for you first.”

Clearly things were not as Jake thought up on the Arc. They were able to get the radio fixed but were only able to send morse code. No one was particularly fluent so it took a lot of time to translate all messages received. A drop ship had been hi-jacked by Diana Sydney and when it pulled away from the Arc it damaged the life support to all the other ships so they could not be used. Unless someone could come up with a miracle everyone on the Arc would die.

The mountain people did retaliate for the crash into their home. The acid fog was sent, as were the reapers, and then the suited mountain men.

Many of the villagers were lost, including one of the guards and both senior Greens (Abby was later told that they were shaking from their withdrawal so much that they couldn’t even hold a weapon let alone defend themselves with it). The reapers and mountain men were eventually fought off but it was thought that they took 15 people with them.

Clarke asked if they could see the suits that the mountain men wore. It was confirmed that they were sealed hazmat suits, or they were sealed until they were breached by either arrows or bullets. The bodies of the mountain men that died by arrows rather than bullets, showed distinct signs of radiation burns.

“Find a way to breach the mountain and they will die” Clarke said. “You need Raven and dad to help make bombs and build something to launch them at the mountain, a sling or trebuchet if they can’t make a rocket launcher. They will need a large open area to practice on since they will need to be far enough away from the mountain that they will not be stopped before they have the chance to fire. If they get power from the dam, perhaps that could be blown too as a precaution.”

“Clarke! We can’t just attack these people without trying to talk to them first” Abby said.

“I had no idea you were so ruthless, sweetie” Jake said on hearing Clarke’s words.

“I don’t think they want to talk” Clarke said. “They had their chance to talk to us when we first landed using the radio if they didn’t want to travel to us, but they elected not to. And yes, I am ruthless when it comes to the protection of my people so we need to find a way to make bombs to defeat the mountain, and to safely bring the Arc down.”

“That’s it, sweetie” Jake exclaimed. “You are a genius! We need to bring the Arc down. Well not all of it, some of it is as flimsy as paper, but if they could strengthen Alpha, and maybe Mecha, and or Tesla, then they could have everyone put in those stations and bring them down. Let me tell the Chancellor and then we’ll get on with these missiles you want us to make. Is that alright with you, Commander?”

“If you and your people can find a way to help us defeat the mountain then you will be greatly rewarded” the Commander replied.

Work in Polis was continuing to help make bombs and to build large sling shots to fire them at the mountain. They also realised that blowing the dam would flood the villages down river. Clarke explained the reasoning behind wanting to blow the dam, and the likely effects, both in the immediate aftermath of the dam collapsing and ongoing once the river had reached its natural state.

In discussion with Anya, and the village chiefs, it was agreed that they would all be temporarily evacuated and then rebuilt on the new banks of the river once it had settled.

Murphy suggested that they keep the hazmat suits to wear so that if the acid fog was sent again then the people placing the bombs could carry on. Races were carried out find out who could run the fastest in one of the suits in rough terrain. To everyone’s surprise, it was Murphy who could run the fastest with two from Trikru being second and third.

“I guess I get to be a hero” Murphy lamented. 

“Don’t forget you will also be greatly rewarded” Clarke reminded him.

“I like the sound of that bit” he agreed.

Once the villages were emptied, the bombs and sling shots made, the three intrepid hazmat suited bombers went to the river below the dam. Jake had given them specific instructions on where to place the bombs and how to prep them. Once they had done that, they had to get out of there quick. Horses were standing by in the trees (or they would be if no acid fog was sent) to take them to safety. A number of possible rendezvous points were selected to allow for almost any permutation of mountain defence.

They had barely reached the base of the dam when the fog was sent. The two Trikru panicked for a short while before they realised that the fog was not affecting them. They smirked at each other and Murphy through their visors as they carried on with their work. Once done, they got the hell out of Dodge.

The fog was very localised, clearly the mountain people knew where they were, so they were able to meet up with transport away from the danger. They could hear the boom of the bombs as they blew, then came the unexpected, but really should have been expected, roar of the water freed from its confines of the dam.

The sky people knew that the mountain would have so much back up power so they would not all die just from the dam being blown. They would have to bombard them with other bombs, hence the sling shots. When it became clear that they didn’t have the power to send the acid fog, Jake directed attacks to the main doors. They did, however, have the power to send out their reapers.

There were many deaths thanks to the reapers, including Jake and Jasper, but the mountain was eventually defeated with all its citizens killed. The Commander said that Skaikru could take everything from the mountain that they wanted and that the mountain and much of the area surrounding it would be designated Skaikru land, but the facilities inside the mountain itself must be sealed. The Commander wanted no chance of the acid fog returning to torture and kill her people. Raven and Monty went through the computer systems and discovered a self-destruct mechanism. Clarke explained what that would mean for the mountain, and the Commander said that she was happy that it be blown and that she wanted to watch it fall, together with all the Ambassadors of the coalition. Once the bunker of Mt Weather had been stripped of everything that could be moved away Monty initiated the self-destruct. The land that was once Mt Weather was almost flat. It would take the people of the coalition some time to relax at its loss; to stop looking at the skyline and rejoice at the change.

With the death of her husband, Abby fell to pieces. She blamed the Commander, Clarke, everyone except the people of the mountain. It was the reapers who killed Jake, and the reapers were from the coalition, was her attitude. Clarke sympathised, but she too was mourning and she wanted to be able hold and mourn with her mom, but she couldn’t. Instead it was Lexa who held Clarke as she cried for her dad.

It was Harper and Finn who held Monty as he cried for his parents and his friend.

It was Raven, Murphy and Bellamy who held Skaikru together as they mourned for those lost and planned how they might re-build on the now flattened mountain until Murphy pointed out that a number of them would want to stay in Polis regardless.

The people of the Arc came down in three stations. Alpha survived the fall with just over ten percent fatalities; Mecha had nearly 25% and Tesla over 50%, but that was due to the fact that it went over a cliff as it landed rather than the landing itself.

In gratitude for the removal of the threat that Mt Weather represented, Delfikru offered to transport the people of the Arc from where they landed to their new home. The offer was gratefully accepted. They did not discover until they were at their new home that all the guns and bullets had somehow been lost in the transit (Raven and Bellamy had taken them to melt down to make swords and knives for their people). They were able to keep their shock batons, though. The vehicles that were found in the mountain were used to carry heavy equipment and various parts from the fallen Arc stations that engineering thought they could use to build new homes, and new power sources.

When everyone is situated around the large camp fire at the centre of a circle of tents, Clarke tells her people that she will be returning to Polis and will marry the Commander. As expected Abby tells Clarke that she cannot and that she would ruin her life if she tied herself to the savages. Clarke points out that she is now 18 and can do whatever the hell she wants. Murphy snorts his agreement and states that he too was staying in Polis since he liked his job and his life there; and as he predicted, most of the delinquents also wanted to stay, making the most of the opportunity they had been given to break away from the old constraints of the Arc.

Bellamy tried to persuade Octavia to stay in Arcadia (their new name for the area surrounding the former Mt Weather) with him. Not only did Octavia refuse, most vocally, she pointed out that he loved his job as a teacher and asked if he really wanted to return to the people who treated them the way the people of the Arc did. Bellamy had to admit that he did not.

Raven and Finn were the only youngsters from the first group to come to earth who did stay with their former people, but it wasn’t long before they asked to come back to Polis. The Exodus Charter made it very difficult for anyone to move outside their predestined places and it was something that they had both moved beyond. The Commander was pleased because she needed someone to help modernise her beautiful city and knew that Raven was just the person to oversee the work. She was soon joined by Sinclair who hated working under the Chancellor who also took on the responsibility of Chief Engineer rather than Jake Griffin as he did previously.

The wedding between Lexa, the Commander of the 12 clans and Clarke, the Princess of the Sky was attended by all the great and the good except for Abby. Wells attended as a representative of the leadership of Arkadia. It was a magnificent momentous occasion. When Lexa gave her speech, she lamented the loss of the father of her beautiful Princess, Jake the Great, whose ingenuity led the allies in the defeat of the mountain. She was sure that if the spirit of the ingenious Jake the Great was watching their celebration, he would be proud of the work of his beloved daughter and her friends in securing their hopefully lasting peace and happiness.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was so sad when I wrote that Jake died. I wanted to keep him alive and let Abby die since is is by far the nicer parent to Clarke, but he was the one attacking the mountain while Abby was safe in Polis, and canon and all that. I couldn't decide whether he should forever be known as 'Ingenious Jake' or 'Jake the Great' so left it a little bit for you to decide.
> 
> The next one is a short one.


	11. Clarke Chooses to Ask Shaw About His Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke asks Shaw about what he did to earn redemption for all his wrong doings; what follows is a bit of a rant!

“ … hope for redemption!” Shaw spat at Clarke.

Clarke looked at the pilot, the hypocritical, angry pilot and asked “What about your redemption, Shaw? What good deeds did you carry out to try to earn your redemption?”

“Don’t you dare attack him!” Raven growled. “After everything you have done you have no right to attack Shaw, or anyone.”

“Right, everyone else is an angel and I’m a devil” Clarke snorted her disbelief at how narrow minded some people could be. “Because of Shaw all the previous crew of his ship are dead, murdered by McCreary. Because of Shaw I was captured and tortured. Because of Shaw you were also captured and I guess tortured a bit, but then you repaid that by getting him tortured, didn’t you Raven? But that was different, right? Me wanting to protect my child instead of you makes me unforgivable, me wanting to try to make peace, yes even with people who had tortured me, to try to keep my home and my child safe is unforgivable.

“Many, many years ago one 11th of September, a plane was hijacked and the passengers discovered that it was going to be used as a suicide bomb to kill many others. Instead of allowing the plane to become a weapon, the passengers forced the plane to crash into the countryside saving hundreds of lives. Once you knew that the people you had chosen over your crew weren’t the good guys, you could have chosen to blow the ship to the heavens, putting you right towards the top of the honourable martyr, good guys list, but instead you chose to save your own skin. You’re a smart guy, Shaw, if you didn’t want to kill yourself with all the murderers, you could have found a way to finish at least some of the bad guys, but you chose the easy path. You chose the path that led to landing a ship in the middle of the only green spot on earth. Luckily everything was still wet from all the rain or the whole place could have gone up in flames instead of just some trees and animals thanks to your thrusters. Why couldn’t you have landed just outside the green zone where you were in no, or at least very little, danger of killing people and animals? Instead of choosing the right path, you chose to allow degenerates like the men who wanted to have some fun with my 12 year old daughter roam free and armed. Tell me, what have you done to make up for that?

“Let me ask you all” and this time Clarke looked around at the people who were treating her as if everything was her fault, “who had a chance to kill McCreary but didn’t?”

No one verbally replied, but there were a number of shame faced looks to the ground.

“I guess I’m not the only one who is to blame for what he did then, huh? But not one of you has tried to apologise. Not one of you has tried to apologise for coming into my home, putting the life of my child in danger. But perhaps you don’t think you did anything wrong, that I am the only one to make mistakes” Clarke was bitter.

“You left Bellamy to die” Echo yelled.

“Hello, how many times have you tried to kill me, Octavia, kill his actual girlfriend, and nearly kill him yourself? If it was up to you he would have been dead long ago, by your own hand, too. And I did not leave him to die: I left him to save Madi. Octavia sent an assassin after us and after Bellamy was the one to put Madi in danger in the first place of-course I had to get Madi to safety first. Or are you trying to tell me that saving my child was the wrong thing to do, that you were justified in trying to kill me in front of my child, and my so called friend who stood by and said nothing while you were strangling me, and only stopped when your Commander ordered you to, the same Commander, by the way, that you seem to think I should have let be killed in order to save the man who put the target on her back?” Clarke was snide.

“Just a minute” Murphy interrupted, “what do you mean Echo tried to strangle you and one of your friends just stood by and watched?”

“So called friends I said” Clarke corrected. “Just that, Echo tried to strangle me and Raven stood by and said nothing; but like I surmised, that just means she wasn’t my friend after all. Let’s face it, Raven has wanted me dead for a long time now for something that wasn’t even my fault and has been punishing me ever since; probably hoping someone would do the deed that she was too cowardly to do herself” Clarke shrugged.

“Did you know?” Murphy asked Bellamy who had spent this whole time shrinking into himself. “Hey, Bellamy, did you know that your girlfriend tried to kill Clarke, you remember Clarke, the one we all mourned for years, the one who risked her life to save ours more than once, more times than I can count to be honest, in front of Madi while your best friend just watched? Well, did you?”

“No, I did not. I knew Clarke would never forgive me for what I did to Madi, but I had to save, I had to save …” and he trailed off.

“Yeah, I know” Clarke spat, “you had to save your family. You made that more than clear when you left me chained up in Polis; not the first time you betrayed me and left me chained up, but all’s good, yeah? I spent six years waiting for you all to come back. Now, now sometimes I wish I did not even try to climb the tower but just sought shelter from the wave. At least then I wouldn’t have had all the burns and intense radiation sickness, nor the sick sense of betrayal from knowing that I would give my all for people who wouldn’t give so much as a damn for me.” Clarke paused, to draw breath and to give the others a chance to defend themselves, but none did.

“Screw you hypocrites and your forgiveness, I don’t need it; I no longer even want it. I don’t even want your thanks for saving your assess, not that any was ever offered, was it? The only person whose forgiveness is necessary to me is Madi. If Madi chooses to forgive me for me for my sins, then I am blessed. I will not seek anything from you double-crossing, lying, murderous, hypocritical, ungrateful, selfish bastards. And if your lives need saving again, look elsewhere because I’m done.”

After he had a chance to let furore die down, Bellamy drew a deep breath and looked at Echo. She caught his eye and could see that whatever he was about to say she would not like: she was right.

“I don’t know how many times you have wanted to kill Clarke, and still she saved your life when none of us wanted to. To pay her back for almost dying to save us I left her chained up and had the flame put in her daughter, after Clarke begged me not to. She wanted to take control of Wonkru by killing Octavia but changed the plan when I asked her to. I deserved to be betrayed by Clarke, but she did not betray me when she left me. Octavia told me that she promised Clarke she would help me. For what you tried to do to the person to whom we all owe so much, without a single shred of apology or remorse, I never want to see you, or speak to you again. I know I will have to, but from now on, you are just Echo, a person I used to know.” 

It was as bad as Echo thought it would be. Raven was about to intervene when Bellamy turned to look at her. “As for you, you sometimes remind me of a woman I used to know called Raven, but she died, and the sad part is I don’t know when she died, but I’ll mourn her. I don’t know you.” Bellamy got up to go to find Clarke.

Murphy stretched and just said “You deserved that. Aren’t we all in for a fun time with such close friends. ‘Do better’, Monty said; Clarke tried to but none of the rest of us did. Salvation comes from trying to do the right thing, even when it’s hard. Apologising and trying to put things right when you get it wrong. Clarke has always tried to do the right thing, especially when it’s hard. When she’s wrong she apologises and tries to put things right. She’s right, Shaw, you didn’t, none of us did and the only time she got angry with us, the only time she stood up for herself rather than us, can you remember Raven? I bet not, because I am damned sure that we just witnessed the only time Clarke ever put herself before others. About bloody time, too, I say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are so many other things that I think Clarke should have ranted on about, mainly about how Raven nearly got them all killed when she wanted Clarke to kill the Commander and save Finn, but she wouldn't go and do it herself (I know walking was very hard for her, but it she really wanted to follow that route, she could have managed to hobble along, but she expected Clarke to do her dirty work for her).  
As for Echo, words fail me there and how Clarke could hug her in the show, bah, I am clearly not a forgiving person!


	12. Clarke Chooses to Shoot Finn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This considers one possibility of what might happen if Clarke decided to shoot Finn as soon as she saw he was shooting at the grounders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to write a Clarke/Lincoln number for Maria+Tyler but realised that I had yet to do a Bellarke yet in this group so I sorry to Maria+Tyler, I promise I will write that one soon(ish), but this is a little Bellarke.
> 
> I always thought it was appalling that no one took Finn and handed him over to Trikru for the death of all those innocents given the circumstances. In fact I was surprised that Bellamy didn't just execute him on the spot as soon as they found him. This is my feeble attempt to square a circle of sympathy for Finn since he was clearly suffering from some mental disorder (PTSD?) and justice for those he killed.

As they hurried towards to sound of gunfire and despite Bellamy’s warning about Finn’s execution of the grounder in the bunker, Clarke could not really believe what she was seeing: Finn Collins, pacifist Finn Collins was opening fire on a bunch of scared, corralled civilians, mainly elderly and children; unarmed, afraid and defenceless. Clarke did the only thing she could think of that would stop this massacre and hopefully prevent an unwinnable war: she took aim and shot Finn.

Clarke was aiming for his raised arm, but she was no Bellamy, and instead she shot him through the side of his chest. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Clarke couldn’t decide quite at that moment, the bullet missed Finn’s heart as it traversed his lung. Judging by the sounds of his breathing, and the lack of an exit wound on the other side, the bullet must have passed through one lung, and lodged in the other. It would not be long, but it would be an extremely painful death for Finn, but they were without immediate access to proper medical resources so it was an unstoppable one.

Clarke tried to ignore Finn’s painful attempts to talk to her: what could she say to him in the light of such an atrocity? Knowing of his forthcoming demise, she wanted to show mercy, but all she could take in was that Finn was not sorry: he did it for her and she knew she had to make sure she did not take on his burden. Anyone who knew her would know that she would never want people, especially innocent people, killed for her even if it was in any way needed. Clarke looked to the grounders all huddled around and asked Octavia to ask if she could help the injured at all.

“No, sky girl” Nyko said. “You have just done all that you can for us. Please take the joka away so we can mourn and heal on our own. Thank you.”

Clarke looked at Nyko, admiring his stoicism, and nodded her agreement. She spoke quietly to Bellamy to say that carrying him would be incredibly painful for Finn so they would either have to knock him out or end his suffering to get him back to Camp Jaha if they did not wish to hear his cries of agony as he died. “The death is inevitable, Bellamy. Even if we had a proper stretcher to lay him down, he would still die before we reached the camp” Clarke stated with absolute surety.

Bellamy looked at Clarke and knew that she spoke the truth, as they always knew when the other spoke truth; and he took this burden from Clarke, as she took the burden with Atom.

With Finn’s gaze so firmly fixed on Clarke, he didn’t notice Bellamy walk round to his other side; nor did he feel the blow to the side of his head that rendered him unconscious. Clarke’s face was the last thing that Finn Collins saw and he died content.

Bellamy, Clarke and Octavia carried Finn’s body back to camp and wondered how Raven would take Finn’s loss. Although they were no longer together, Raven still had an undeniable bond with Finn, as painful as that bond was and his death would still bring great pain to the already suffering mechanic.

Would the Grounders retaliate? How would they retaliate? Could they, Camp Jaha, try to offer some recompense to stave off an attack? Why would Finn break his code of honour so thoroughly? All those questions were going through Clarke’s mind, but it never occurred to mentally ask if she would be arrested and tried for the murder of Finn Collins: she should have. Raven in her grief demanded it and Abby, not wanting to appear to favour her daughter agreed to it. Everyone else was appalled by it.

Luckily for Bellamy’s state of mind Kane took the time to reassure him that there was no way it would end up with a guilty verdict so Bellamy just had to be patient. Bellamy snorted at that and pointed out that Clarke was the one with the patience out of the two of them, and since Clarke was one of only two people who could keep him under control, and with Octavia being the other one and she was even more fiery than he, Kane really needed to make sure that any trial was over quickly.

One of the things that Clarke feared did come to pass: representatives of the Commander came to demand that Finn, if he was still alive be handed over to them for execution by death of a thousand cuts, or if dead, his body be handed over to them for burning with his victims in accordance with their law.

When Kane tried to explain that Finn had died and his body had already been disposed of the Grounders didn’t believe him for they had seen no pyre built or lit. “We bury our dead” Kane replied.

Once again they didn’t believe him because they were from the sky and how could they bury their dead in the sky? Then they wondered why they would use land for burying their dead when it could be used for growing food? It made no sense to them so they would not believe Kane. They would, however, believe the Sky Princess who had proven herself to be both honourable as well as brave.

Kane had spent enough time with the few remaining delinquents to know that the Sky Princess was Clarke and he did not want to have to explain that they had locked up the woman who had stopped a worse massacre than had taken place. He tried to explain that Clarke was unavailable to speak to anyone because she was in lock up. Kane knew that the discussion was not going well.

“I must report all this to the Commander” the grounder said; his disapproval clear in his tone.

Clarke’s trial was not going well. Not so much that it was not going well for Clarke, but rather it was a disorganised mess. Kane was trying his best to act in a calm and logical way to steer the case to a clear ‘not guilty’ verdict, but there was no council or jury, it just seemed that everyone in Camp Jaha had a say.

There was argument over the reliability of the witnesses since they were all criminals, although what Octavia did besides being born that made her unreliable no one could ever say. Then there were discussions about whether or not they should care that another criminal died. There were some people who expressed the view that since it was Grounders that died in the alleged massacre then it should be them to try Clarke. Bellamy was appalled that Abby was not taking control the way she ought to as interim Chancellor.

The proceedings were brought to halt by a commotion by the gate. The Commander with an army the size of which was bigger than anything the guard had ever seen had arrived and wished to speak to the sky princess. She and her army would not leave until they had spoken.

Bellamy watched Clarke’s face as the guard said what was happening in a very loud whisper so that everyone knew what was happening. At first Clarke seemed puzzled; then she looked at Bellamy and gave a resigned shrug as if to say that she thought that the death of Finn was the least of her problems.

Kane and Abby left the ‘Court’ to go and speak to the Commander. Bellamy wondered if they would admit that Anya was killed by the Camp Jaha guard or what they thought they could do against the Grounders. He tilted his head in the direction of the gate and raised a brow in question. Naturally Clarke knew what he was asking and nodded for him to go too.

Bellamy could hear Abby’s strident voice telling the Commander that they don’t have any princesses and Bellamy wondered if she was really that ignorant. He finally realised that she was and he snorted drawing all eyes to him.

“You have something to say, Blake?” Abby asked.

“The Commander is asking to speak to Clarke. We sometimes call her ‘Princess’ and they must have picked up on it at some point” Bellamy shrugged while he looked at Murphy as if to say ‘can you believe this’.

“Why would you call Clarke ‘Princess’ when you know we don’t have royalty on the Arc” Abby said only to be the recipient of many snorts of disbelief, which she looked surprised by but decided to ignore. “But that is beside the point; Clarke is not able to come out to talk to anyone at the moment. I am the Acting Chancellor of Camp Jaha and if you need to speak to anyone, Commander, it should be me.”

“I wish to speak to Clarke, the Sky Princess about the attacks on my people and the deaths of my warriors. Are you able to speak about those things?” the Commander clearly knew the answer to her question. “I shall wait to speak to the Princess. My army will surround your pitiful camp until such a time as my request is granted. These are my lands after all that you have invaded.”

Bellamy thought that the Commander was very deliberate in her use of the word ‘invaded’ making it clear that she held all the cards and that Skaikru had nothing to offer her except that which she asked for – Clarke’s presence.

Eventually it was agreed that a handcuffed Clarke could be escorted to speak with the Commander. Bellamy watched as Clarke kept her composure, walking with her head raised, looking straight ahead with strength and pride oozing from every pore. He went to join the escort. Clarke caught Bellamy’s eye and almost smiled at the cheeky wink he gave her. The exchange did not go unnoticed by Kane.

Clarke was led to the Commander’s tent. It was intended by the grounders that only Clarke should enter but Abby was adamant that she and Kane as Chancellor and Prosecutor from Camp Jaha and (reluctantly) Bellamy as guard also be present. Bellamy couldn’t believe that Abby and Kane didn’t realise that he was holding Clarke’s hand behind her back rather than pushing her forward. A quick look at the fierce looking warrior woman told Bellamy that she had noticed and he was sure she said as much to the Commander in that strange language of theirs.

“So” the Commander said “you’re the one who burnt 300 of my warriors to death in a ring of fire?”

“So” replied Clarke “you’re the one who sent 300 trained warriors to kill a bunch of scared kids – my bunch of scared kids.”

Bellamy managed to keep a straight face at Clarke’s retort as he rubbed gentle circles over her palm with his thumb. Abby and Kane were not so restrained.

“Clarke! How can you speak of killing all those people like that?” Abby asked. “I don’t know what’s happened to you, I really don’t.”

“The ground, mom” Clarke sighed repeating the mantra for at least the tenth time. “The Ground is what happened to me. What is it you wish to speak to me about, Commander?”

“I want to hear your side of the story of why my former fos and so many of my people are dead” the Commander said.

“I’m sorry” Clarke said, “but I don’t know what a ‘fos’ is.”

“Anya” the Commander growled. “I want to know how Anya died along with all of my people that you have managed to kill since you first invaded my lands.”

Bellamy gave Clarke’s hand a small squeeze in comfort and continued with the circles as Clarke explained why they were sent to the ground believing that there were no humans still living on earth and everything that had happened since then leading to the point they were now at, excluding, Bellamy noted, why the radio that Raven brought down didn’t work requiring the use of the flares. “And Commander, since I have some insider knowledge of the mountain, I think that if we combined forces we could get both our peoples out of there” Clarke ended with.

It was surprising to Bellamy that Abby had tears streaming down her face as she heard the story of their difficulties in surviving the ground. ‘Perhaps she’ll understand Clarke when she says that the ground is what happened’ Bellamy thought.

“What proof do you have that you escaped the mountain?” the Commander asked.

“None, but Anya asked me to take one of her braids to give to you as she lay dying in my arms” Clarke replied. “Bell, can you get it out of my front right pocket please?”

Bellamy did as Clarke requested and passed the braid of hair to the Commander.

After a minute of thought the Commander asked Clarke why she had been arrested for stopping Finn from killing more of her people.

“I have no idea” Clarke replied. “Of all the possibilities that went through my mind as we walked back to the camp, that was not something I considered. You will need to ask my mother why she ordered my arrest and is trying me for murder.”

There were sharp sounds of disbelief that it was Clarke’s own mother who did this to Clarke. Bellamy wondered what they would think if they ever learned that it was Clarke’s mother who had her thrown into solitary.

The Commander looked at Abby and in the most disgusted voice that Bellamy had ever heard she asked why she would, how she could, do this to her daughter instead of praising her for her courage and ingenuity?

“She killed one of our own” Abby replied. “She has to answer for it just as anyone else would.”

“Surely you were informed of what was happening?” the Commander pressed.

“Yes” the Chancellor confirmed.

“Then why was it not clear that she shot this Finn” said with the most disgusted of tones, “to prevent him from killing more of my …” and the Commander trailed off as the thought clarified in her mind. “You said she killed one of your own and she has to answer for it, what would you have done if the murderer had lived? Would you have put him on trial? Would he have had to answer for killing my people? Do not bother to answer that: your actions make it more than clear what you feel. If you persist in this sham of a trial, then I demand you hand over the one who killed Anya so that they can answer for it just as anyone else would.”

“You can’t do that” Abby said.

“Abby, you need to take a breath and think this through,” Kane tried to calm the Chancellor, and Bellamy wondered who on earth thought it would be a good idea to have the hot headed Dr Griffin as interim Chancellor, it was a recipe for disaster as much as it was when it was him in charge of the 100 without Clarke’s equal input. “The Commander has given you a very good way out of this sham, and yes, the Commander called it right, this trial for Clarke is clearly a sham. You should take it and be grateful.”

“I can’t, Marcus. Did you not hear about all those other people she just killed? This is not my daughter and this person needs to pay for making my baby girl do all those terrible things so that I can get her back” the Chancellor said, demonstrating to all there that she was not right in her head and that she had no business being in charge of anything.

“Dr Griffin, Abby!” Clarke called. “Your baby girl is dead. She received a grievous injury when her father was floated, exacerbated when she was put in solitary confinement. There was another serious blow when she, along with 99 other children, were collected up and thrown off their home onto what was thought to be an irradiated planet as lab rats and given no supplies to help them survive. The fatal blow to her came when she learned that it wasn’t her childhood friend whom she had blamed for betraying her that informed the then Chancellor about her dad, but it was her own mother. The Chancellor and the Council, of which you are part, are responsible for some dreadful injuries that almost killed her, but it was you who struck the fatal blow, you who killed your baby girl. I am made up from what remains of her and I assure you, I am not ignorant, nor am I blindly naïve, in fact I am nothing like your baby girl. 

“Dr Griffin, you are grieving and are in no fit state to act as Chancellor in these difficult times, as well as carry out your duties as Chief Medical Officer; you should hand the pin to Kane so that you can focus on healing those you can, and yourself and allow the eminently sensible Marcus Kane take over” Clarke said.

Bellamy knew that there was an audible recording of the conversation, just in case the Commander tried something, but he so wished that there was a visual too: the look on Clarke’s face as she stood tall and proud was awesome.

Abby looked at Clarke as if she was finally acknowledging that her ‘baby girl’ as she kept trying to call Clarke was indeed no more. With a nod of agreement, Abby reached up to remove the Chancellor’s pin and handed it to Kane.

“Abby, are you sure?” Kane asked.

“Yes, Clarke is right. I need to focus on healing who I can and not keep trying to resuscitate a dead horse: my baby girl is dead and I need to mourn her so that I can get to know my daughter, Clarke, without hurting her by trying to force her to become my baby girl” Abby almost smiled.

Kane took the pin and placed it on his collar. He turned to Bellamy and asked him to remove Clarke’s cuffs. “Clarke, thank you for all you have done to try to protect the kids that we sent down with you. You are an honour to your parents. There are no charges pending from Camp Jaha. Commander?”

Bellamy removed Clarke’s cuffs and grabbed hold of her hand as the two of them faced the Commander for all the ‘crimes’ they, as the leaders of the 100, were responsible for. The Commander looked at their hands that were locked together and how they stood, side by side and slightly leaning into each other.

“I believe many of our problems would have been averted if only we had talked when you first landed, but we cannot change the past we can only deal with the consequences. I accept that you did not intend your” and the Commander struggled over the unfamiliar word, “flares to burn down a village, but none-the-less they did. I shall not demand death as due, but I do demand other compensation: do you accept this?”

“Yes Commander I” and Bellamy had to interrupt Clarke.

“Yes Commander, as joint leaders we both accept that we should offer compensation. What do you suggest?”

“I will come back to that” the Commander would not be derailed from her path. “I accept the deaths on the bridge, the death of Caliban and the deaths of my warriors in the ring of fire because we were at war and you cannot be blamed for defending your people.”

Bellamy noted that Anya’s death was not included in that since she did not die in the ring of fire and wondered if it would come back to haunt them.

“I am appalled that you were shot along with my former fos but accept that there was no peace between our peoples then and that your people had reason to believe that we were still at war. The innocents that Finn killed have been partly avenged, but the survivors and families of the dead did not get to see him burn and if we were to ever discover that you have lied and that Finn is in fact still alive then I shall demand the lives of 17 of your innocents.”

Bellamy gulped at that thought, grateful that they didn’t mention the man in the bunker who told Finn about the village leading him to think they held Clarke, but Clarke stood tall, well as tall as a short person like she can stand, stared at the Commander and offered a regal nod of agreement. Bellamy offered Clarke a little nudge to remind her that the Chancellor standing behind them also needed to agree so they turned as one to him in question.

“Thank you Commander, you are being most understanding and I accept everything you have said so far” Kane was all clever diplomacy.

“Clarke kom Skaikru, do you truly believe that using the knowledge that you have gained that we should be able to take the mountain?” the Commander got to the crux of the matter.

“I do” and Bellamy wondered when he would hear her say that in another meeting, a ceremony. “I do not believe it will be easy or without loss, but I do believe it is necessary for the sake of both our peoples because they will not stop unless we stop them.”

“Do you Clarke kom Skaikru, and you Bellamy kom Skaikru, pledge yourselves to the endeavour of ending the reign of the mountain people?”

Bellamy and Clarke looked at each other and both wondered if the Commander was a little crazy: of-course they would both pledge themselves to the endeavour of ending the mountain people; it was the only way to protect their people. “We do” they both said, in unison.

“After we have taken down the mountain, your debt to my people will be repaid in full” the Commander declared; she then looked at Clarke and Bellamy, almost as if she were puzzled. “You two are chosen, yes?”

Clarke and Bellamy looked at each other and smiled. They weren’t 100% sure what the Commander meant by ‘chosen’ but if it was anything like they thought it meant then the answer was clear.

“Yes” Clarke declared.

“We have chosen each other and will always choose each other” Bellamy said.

“We will always be” Clarke paused to allow Bellamy to join in “together”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I should have noted at beginning note, this is also because I thought that Abby should never have been given the Chancellor's pin!
> 
> I have been given some brilliant suggestions for other different choice shorts and I will write them and will consider all requests.


	13. Clarke and Roan Choose to Sleep Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on Becca's Island experimenting on the possible night blood solution Clarke decides to give up on a possible relationship with Bellamy and chooses to enjoy some pleasant times with Roan while waiting for the world to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a little jumbled at the start, going back and forth in time slightly because I wanted to stay on theme reflecting Clarke's thoughts rather write in strict chronological order. but I hope it's still clear enough.

Things were not looking promising: they did not have sufficient fuel to go to space to make the night blood serum. If they couldn’t find a way around the problem then Clarke would have destroyed the City of Light for nothing: humanity would not survive the oncoming death wave.

Clarke felt a wave of desolation overcome her. She needed to speak with her best friend so she called Arkadia. That was a waste of time because it turned out that Bellamy was busy with Bree. Thank goodness that she stopped him from speaking at the beach. Clarke knew that she would have been heart-broken if she had allowed Bellamy to declare his love and then he went and slept with Bree.

Clarke thought back to when she escaped from Mt Weather. First she threw herself at him, and even though it took a few seconds, Bellamy did hug her back: perhaps it was more of a pity hug, or just that he was glad she was alive; because still he did nothing to take their relationship forward. Then she all but told him she loved him and got nothing but disappointment from him. Of-course that might have been because she finally agreed to him infiltrating the mountain (she did not send him, no matter what Octavia says, she just finally supported his idea). Had he been banking on her continual refusal? But when Roan had kidnapped her she promised she would do whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t kill Bellamy; if that wasn’t a declaration she didn’t know what was. 

After the mountain, Clarke left for a brief respite only for Bellamy to take up with Gina. When she realised how selfish she had been leaving all responsibility for the surviving delinquents to Bellamy she had made her way back to Camp Jaha, as it was then, and saw that Bellamy was happy with Gina, and Raven had Wick so she wasn’t needed and carried on her journey of recovery. Not that she was able to get much recovering done with what followed. No, it was best that she focus on their friendship and focus any loving thoughts elsewhere.

Speaking of her period of travelling and recovering: “Hey, are you okay?” Roan asked.

“As well as anyone can be in the current circumstances” Clarke sighed her reply. “How about you, how are you holding up?”

“I think I’m about ready to call time and enjoy what is left of life. I’m going to head off up to the house and see if a good meal and a decent sleep help me recover my optimism. What about you?” Roan said, and raised his brow in invitation.

Clarke smiled and got up from the radio. “Yeah, and how about a lovely hot shower? It can help us wash away the strains of the day and help us relax.”

Roan laughed and said “I’m not sure that sharing a shower with you is going to help me relax, but I’m all for trying. Food first, though.”

“You’re right” Clarke agreed. “We need our energy if we’re going to search hard for a reason to keep on fighting to live.”

“Don’t worry about the hardness of the search” Roan said with a smirk, “I’m we’ll find something to keep us occupied”.

Clarke just shook her head at Roan’s pitiful attempt at a double entendre.

The shower was amazing. The Arc had showers but they were nothing like the ones in Becca’s house. For a start Becca’s house had hot water, something that Roan appreciated at much as Clarke; then there was the multiple jet heads so that they could be hit with the water from four sides and even more angles. Clarke almost didn’t care if she and Roan had sex because she was sure she could get off from the shower alone!

While Roan was doing his best to wash his hair, Clarke was on her knees ‘washing’ his cock and balls. The hot water and hot soapy hands soon resulted in Clarke receiving another ‘shower’.

“Now that’s out of the way perhaps you’ll have the concentration to help me get clean” Clarke smirked up at Roan’s subtle grin. He did.

Eventually they made it to the bed where they proceeded to mess up and dirty all the linens. They realised that they would need more sustenance if they were to enjoy the rest of their time on the island. They hurriedly donned some clothes and made their way to the kitchen to see what they could find to eat.

Murphy’s raised brow and knowing smirk was almost, but not quite, enough to put Clarke off eating anything. Roan, of-course, took the silent teasing in his stride and complemented the chef on the food he was preparing.

“It’s the end of the world and I’ve found my niche” Murphy shrugged. “Anyway, since the supplies are here, the facilities are here and my woman is here, I’ve decided that I’m never leaving. Even if the night blood is a solution, there’s nothing really out there for us so we’ll make the most of what’s left of our lives here.”

Clarke sighed and said “I actually think that is a damned good idea, Murph. Do you think the lighthouse bunker could take a few more?”

“You’re seriously not going back to join the rest of your people?” Roan asked.

“I think of the delinquents, the hundred that I came down with, more as my people rather than the rest of the Arkadians” Clarke explained. “Most of the few that have survived so far seem hell bent on drinking themselves to death.”

“While you two seem hell bent on shagging yourselves to death” Murphy raised the spoon he was using to stir a pot of the stove in salute, “I can get behind that one”.

“I don’t know what will be left to fight over after praimfaya and to be honest, the way I feel at the moment, I want to just let everyone fight it out between them. I hate fighting, constantly having to make choices about who to let live, who to let die and know that if I were to go to them I just wouldn’t be able to stop myself from getting in the thick of things” Clarke sighed.

“Too damn right you won’t” Murphy added. “That’s always been part of your problem, Princess, you have to keep trying to save people and the majority of them just don’t deserve it. Do what you want to do for a change, not what you feel you have to do.”

Roan laughed at the chef as he mentally agreed with him, the majority of people didn’t deserve to have someone like Clarke save them when they weren’t doing anything to save themselves. “I think I shall stay here with you. Do you have a way that I can get a message to Echo to tell her that she’s in charge? It’s what she always wanted and this way we both get to die happy.”

Clarke looked at Roan closely. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I can radio Arkadia and ask them to get a message to her, but only if you’re sure.”

“Yes, the message is to let her know that I shall be staying here; that she is in charge, that Ash is in charge and she is to save all she can. Say it exactly as that and she will know it is a true message from her King.”

Clarke got on the radio and this time when she called Arkadia Monty answered. He refused to pass on a message and insisted on fetching Bellamy. He clearly got someone else to find him because Monty wanted to talk to Clarke, too.

“Are you really staying there even if a night blood solution is found?” he asked. 

“Yeah, we both know, hell, everyone knows that if I don’t I’ll end up getting involved in decisions that I don’t want to have to make; everyone, including me, will resent me for them and I’ll end up having to go on another trek of self recovery and I think that will be even less safe than the one last one I did. So to avoid the consequences, I’ll just stay here. What about you, what are you going to do?”

“I’m trying to convince Jasper and Harper not to party to death, but I think it’s a losing battle. Jasper in particular seems determined to die and I don’t want to live alone” Monty said.

“Come here” Clarke offered. “Murphy is here and he said he’s staying here with Emori, too. I don’t know what Raven will want to do. Miller and Jackson are also here and I’ve no idea what they will do.”

“If you’re sure, I think I might do that. I’ll give it a few more tries, but I don’t want to watch them all die. I am so tired of watching people I love die.”

Clarke sighed with him knowing that he spoke nothing but the truth.

When Bellamy finally came to the radio Clarke explained the situation to him and asked if could get the message to Echo. It took a long time for Bellamy to think before he answered. 

“I’ll get the message to Echo then have another look for Octavia. There’s not many of us left but I think we should all be together at the end if it comes to that so I’ll try to get us to meet up with Monty and whoever he can persuade to join him.”

“Okay, Bellamy. May we meet again” Clarke ended the call.

Clarke winked at Murphy to let him know she had a plan. As soon as she saw the light dawn in his eyes Clarke mouthed at Murphy to yell at her. He played along nicely. It was all for nought as Abby destroyed the radiation chamber

When everything was packed up to go, Clarke announced that she was remaining on the island with Roan, Raven, Murphy and Emori. She asked Miller if he wanted to stay too since Monty, and whoever he could persuade to live, and Bellamy with Octavia, if he ever found her, would join them. Abby was yelling at Clarke, demanding that she leave with her, but Clarke refused. In fact Clarke found it hard to look at her mother at that time. She could not understand how Abby could be such a hypocrite when it came to sacrificing people.

As soon as the boat left, Clarke asked Raven about the likelihood of the nightblood solution working.

“I would say it will in all probability offer some protection, but I can’t guess as to how much. Why?” Raven asked.

“I want you to drill into me to get some more marrow to make more night blood. If we give it to everyone here then we could suffer less than if we don’t have it. This is voluntary, Raven, please let me do this, let us try” Clarke tried to persuade.

Raven thought for a few moments before saying: “There’s another vial of the serum. We can take enough from you to make three more donations, and if we give the big man the other vial we can take enough from him to make four more. Once they’ve taken, we can take from those as necessary for those who make it here. If everyone agrees to that, I say we get to work checking stores and finding places to sleep.”

Clarke looked to Roan who nodded his acceptance, then Murphy, Emori and Miller who also all agreed. Then, as quick as a flash, Roan was injected and told to take it easy while Clarke was prepped for the marrow extraction on her. Given Raven’s seizures, it was agreed that it would be Miller doing the actual extraction, but under Clarke’s guidance as she would receive only a local anaesthetic. Miller said he hoped that Clarke would recover sufficiently to do Roan’s when he was ready since he never wanted that sort of responsibility again. Clarke selfishly thought that she hadn’t wanted the responsibility either, but that was life.

On being questioned, the computer projected that the house would be destroyed in the death wave but that the lab would survive. Miller, Murphy and Emori then started to bring everything that could be moved from the house to the lab. Less than an hour after getting his injection, Roan was able to assist until it was time for him to be drilled.

A radio call from Polis informed them that Jaha had found a bunker that could hold 1200. Naturally everyone else was fighting over it. Jaha pointed out that none of the other clans could run the bunker without Skaikru, and since they found it, it should be theirs. Indra pointed out that it was in Trikru lands so it should be theirs. Echo pointed out that Azgeda controlled the coalition so it should be theirs. The only thing that was agreed was that they would need Skaikru so they would get 200 spots, the remaining 1,000 would go to the winner of a conclave. Octavia decided to fight for Skaikru and Bellamy was distraught because Luna was fighting for no one to get the remaining spots and for the bunker to be sealed so that any Skaikru in there would not be able to get out.

Knowing Luna was a trained night blood Clarke realised that she would in all likelihood win the conclave. Clarke therefore told Bellamy to get as many people as possible in the bunker, from all the clans, focussing on young ones and if possible, those with skills that Skaikru lacked.

Luna did win the conclave and insisted that those already in the bunker be locked in. Bellamy radioed Clarke to tell her what happened and that he was on his way to her. Clarke was able to speak to the bunker to let them know that they would find a way to get them out after the five years. It was during that conversation that Clarke discovered that Jaha found the bunker and informed Abby while she was still on the island; thus explaining why Abby was so insistent that Clarke return to Polis with her. Abby didn’t give a hoot about any of the others with them, not even Raven, but only Clarke: was it guilt for being responsible for her imprisonment? Clarke was furious. How Abby could betray their allies, Roan, like that was beyond her.

Clarke didn’t have long to brood about her mother: she had to help Raven die and return to life, all to reboot her brain and hope it would stop the seizures. It worked. Raven said that she seemed to still hold the ability to code like she had with ALIE in her brain, but she didn’t have the brain bleeds and headaches that came with it. It appeared that the only downside was that she was still in pain from her leg, all in all, not a bad deal.

Bellamy turned up with Echo, Monty, Harper, Marcus and Indra.

“Where’s Jasper and Bree?” Clarke asked.

“They decided they didn’t want to leave Arkadia” Harper said as she held onto Monty’s hand.

Clarke nodded and hugged Monty then went to Bellamy. “I am so sorry about Octavia, Bell. Not much consolation to you, but I think Octavia was like Jasper and didn’t want to live without her love. And I’m sorry about Bree, too, but I am glad that you’re here. I know none of you feel up to much at the moment, but we need help in getting as much as we can from the house to the lab. The house won’t survive, but the lab will. Okay?”

Echo walked up to Roan “My King, how may I serve?”

“For the moment, Echo, please help bring things from the house here. Clarke, I know I won’t be able to be as useful as usual, but I can help go through the house and make it easier for everyone to carry while you prepare …” and he looked at those who had received Clarke’s marrow and should be able to donate themselves.

“Me” Emori said. “I should be the one to donate. Raven is needed in here to monitor and plan; Miller and John are stronger than me for carrying things, so I am the one to donate this time.”

Clarke saw that Murphy was about to argue, but stopped him. “Emori’s right, Murphy. I’ll make sure she feels little to no pain, I promise and she’ll have plenty of time to sleep it off. You go help the others.”

John Murphy stared at Clarke for a brief second before smirking at her to signify his acceptance of her strictures. He well knew that Clarke would not hurt Emori beyond that which was necessary to give everybody the best chance. He also knew that Emori was beyond strong enough to withstand the discomfort that Clarke would have to inflict upon her.

“What’s going on, Clarke?” Bellamy asked.

“We’re all becoming night bloods” Clarke replied. “It might not be as good as the original serum made in space, but it will offer some protection from the increased radiation. Go on and help the others, we need the stuff in here before it’s too late” she urged.

Clarke drew a little of Emori’s blood to test. There was no point in drilling into her bones if the result would not be of any use to anyone. They needed to wait a while longer.

“I’ll go and bring some stuff back and then you can test again in a couple of hours” Emori said.

“I think those who get Emori’s donation will have to spend some time in the bunker” Clarke said as she mentally prepared for the various scenarios.

“There’s a tunnel to the lighthouse bunker from level two so we’ll be able to meet up again even if they somehow get stuck” Raven said as she brought up the island schematic on one of the screens.

Clarke found the tunnel’s entrance and walked through to the bunker. It didn’t take her very long and she was pleasantly surprised at the facilities. It was nothing like the house, but it was very comfortable none-the-less. Three people would have to stay secured so they plus one other could be the ones to make it their bedrooms.

Kane, Indra and Echo were given the three remaining doses from Roan meaning that they would need to rest for a while, or at least take on lighter duties. None were happy but they could feel that they were weaker than they would normally be.

When as much as they could get into the lab had been moved Roan, Miller and Murphy started to dismantle things to try to secure them in the basement while Emori was tested again. This time Clarke was satisfied that the transfusions would work. Roan, Miller and Murphy made their final journey back to the lab, this time wearing the radiation suits as a precaution. Clarke had warned them all that they were likely to get sick before the night blood started to filter the radiation from their systems, but they would need to stay hydrated.

Miller agreed to join Bellamy, Harper and Monty in the bunker. They were strongly advised not to come back to the lab until after the death wave had passed. They had everything they would need for a good while so they would be fine. “Just remember to keep sipping water” Clarke yelled at them as she wiped the black blood dripping from her nose.

Raven asked why Murphy and Emori hadn’t offered to go to the bunker so it would be two couples. “That ALIE bitch kept me in there for three months for no reason other than she wanted to. I’m not going in there again if I don’t have to. Don’t know how you survived over a year in solitary without going mad” he muttered the final point at Clarke, then smirked and added “although you going mad in solitary would explain why you’re always trying to save people and then running off on your own when they don’t thank you for it.”

“Why were you in solitary for over a year?” Echo asked.

“I knew the Arc was running out of oxygen and those in charge didn’t want to risk me telling anyone about it. It’s why my dad was executed” Clarke shrugged.

“You people have strange priorities” Roan snorted and almost choked on the blood that was starting to leak from his nose and gums.

They agreed to all stay together while they went through the sickness stage so they could help each other with water etc. Once they were sure that they would be fine they could settle for their privacy in the rooms that had been emptied and had mattresses placed on the floor.

“Are you sure you want to share a room with me?” Clarke asked Roan.

“Of-course I am. Why would you think I wouldn’t?” 

“No reason to think that you wouldn’t, just no reason to be sure that you would, that’s all” Clarke tried to reassure. “I admit I’m a little nervous since I have never shared a room with someone like this.”

“How about this, if you don’t like sharing with me, I’ll move out and you can share with Kane?” Roan offered.

It was just what Clarke needed to make her relax and smile because she thought it likely that Kane would end up sharing with Indra.

The sickness period was very rough for everyone bar Clarke. Clarke didn’t enjoy bleeding from her nose, her gums, or being sick or just heaving seemingly all the time, but Clarke had seen this with the people from Floukru and she could analyse medically what was happening so was less distressed than the others by what they were suffering.

If someone was going through a respite from the illness and had the strength, they assisted the others with trying to stay hydrated. They ended up all lying in a puddle of blood, vomit, piss and shit and Clarke knew that it would take a while to get the stench out of the floor, even the very air they breathe: but they would be alive to smell it.

Clarke was aware when the death wave passed over them: the upper levels shook and anything loose fell. Murphy was struck with something, but he said he was fine. 

It was the day after the wave that Clarke felt well enough to get up, strip and use a bathroom. A shower spent sitting on the floor, restored much of Clarke’s inner strength. She didn’t think to bring clothes into the bathroom so she just wrapped the wet towel around her and started looking for cleaning supplies.

Roan was the next to be conscious enough to shower so Clarke got him some clothes to don after his shower and started to mop the floor. All soiled clothes would have to go through the medical decontamination and cleaning system.

Seeing others begin to sit, rather than lie, Clarke got them all a little drink and an MRE each. It wouldn’t do for them to have too much in their stomachs at this time. When Roan emerged from the bathroom, she passed an MRE to him too and ate one herself.

“Why are you cleaning in just a towel?” Raven asked.

“Because by the time this is done I’m going to need another shower so it’s not worth putting clothes on” Clarke replied. “Although it is likely that the bunker protected the others from any increased radiation so haven’t gone through this stage yet and we’ll have another mess to clean up once they come through, although with only four of them we should be able to stay on top of the sickness with us looking after them.” Taking shifts in pairs, they were able to get the others through the sickness stage relatively unscathed.

It took Bellamy ten days to realise that Clarke and Roan were sleeping together. He was pissed.

“Is he why you wouldn’t let me speak at the beach?” Bellamy demanded.

“No, I just knew that you weren’t really that into me” Clarke replied and went on as Bellamy tried to speak. “You love me, and I love you, but we’re not in love and we never will be or we would have gotten together long before now. I like Roan a great deal; I have an enormous amount of respect for him; and, of-course, I am attracted to him. I don’t know if those feelings will develop into love, or being in love; but a large part of me hopes they do – as long as it is mutual, but no matter what, I know I will always like, admire and respect Roan.”

“What if you love him but he doesn’t love you?” Bellamy almost sounded like he hoped for that very outcome.

“Then I get hurt, cry, mope a little, and learn to live with it so that we can retain our friendship and continue to work together to help our people” Clarke replied knowing it was the truth.

“And what if I love you but you don’t love me?” Roan interrupted with a smile.

“Then I hope you don’t get hurt, that you don’t cry, but you can mope until you are able to live with it so that we can retain our friendship and continue to work together to help our people” Clarke replied, also with a smile. "We have five years to get it right. I think we're both stubborn enough to do that."

The smile from Clarke that was just for Roan, and the one from him that was just for Clarke. The smiles that Bellamy saw and knew that whatever feelings were developing between the two of them that they were entirely mutual and that they were deep and long lasting. Bellamy’s time of being the most important person in Clarke’s life was over and he knew it: it was time for him to move on properly, and not just piss around because he is too scared to commit. The difficulty is in deciding who to try for, Raven or Echo?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be a Clarke/Lincoln story but I am having great difficulty in writing it. I love the outline of the story I have but somehow it's not gelling together. I'll have to come back to it, but you may be able to help me: I need to know in what episode of S5 Echo strangled Clarke and was ordered to stop by Madi. I've tried to google it but have not found it. Does anyone know? i know, you're wondering how something that happened in S5 could be a Clarke/Lincoln story, well, you'll have to wait and see if I can get the story written (no, no time travel).


	14. Echo Chooses to Defy Madi and Kill Clarke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echo has her hands around Clarke's neck while Raven looks on; Madi orders Echo to release Clarke but Echo chooses to do what she wants and everyone has to live with the consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is specially for Mary Tyler.
> 
> I'm not happy with the way this one is panning out and I've re-written it so many times that it is probably very similar to what I started out with! Having said that, I do like the premise behind the story so one day I may return to do a polish. I've no idea when part 2 will be up - I haven't started it yet, but I think I finished this part at a good point.

NOTE: Assumes with Clarke’s death Madi went on a bit of a rampage and McCreary was killed before he could destroy Eden, thus bringing an end to the war.

As she struggled to breathe thanks to the hands of Echo strangling her, Clarke could see that Raven stood and didn’t seem to care. Didn’t care that the woman who had always picked her first until Madi came into her life, was being killed by someone who killed for the sheer hell of it.

“I am your Commander and I am ordering you to let Clarke go!” Clarke could hear as darkness was beginning to creep up on her.

Clarke tried desperately to look at her beloved daughter, to somehow tell her that she was so loved and how proud of her Clarke was; but all she could see was the spite in Echo’s face as she jerked her hands and Clarke felt no more.

Clarke didn’t know where she was, but somehow she was above the scene looking down. Her own body was lying on the floor, her head at an odd angle, ‘broken neck’ Clarke thought; and then called out in grief as she could see Madi falling to the floor and screaming in pain.

Clarke had wanted Madi to never feel that degree of pain and there was nothing that she could do to comfort her.

Through her periphery vision Clarke could see that both Echo and Raven suddenly seemed to develop a conscience. Was it seeing the pain that their actions, or inactions, had caused Madi that made them sorry for her death (for Clarke was sure that she was, in fact, dead)? Or was it the realisation of what they had done that caused them to be sorry?

“Madi” Raven tried to talk, “I’m sorry, but she betrayed us”.

“She left Bellamy to die!” Echo emphasised.

“And how many times did you betray her? How many times did Bellamy leave her to die?” Madi countered with the knowledge supplied by the stories Clarke used to tell and from the memories stored in the flame.

“I never betrayed her” Raven was offended.

“You don’t think giving her a knife and telling her to kill Lexa knowing that it would result in her death is not betraying her? Holding Clarke responsible for all of Finn’s sins despite her complete innocence in the matter is not betraying her? And what about ALIE, and trying to take me away from her while she lay sleeping?” Madi said. Raven knew she had betrayed Clarke, and everyone else when she took the chip, and when she attacked Clarke in particular.

“You two will pay the price for your crimes” Madi declared fervently. “For the death of my nomon, I shall demand death by a thousand cuts, for you, Echo; and even then, it will not be enough to make up for all the pain you gave and tried to give Clarke; and for Raven, it will be one lash each day for 2,199 days; the number of days that Clarke waited for you to come back while you forgot all that you owed her.”

“Heda, you must understand that I needed to protect Bellamy!” Echo cried.

“And Clarke needed to protect me!” Madi replied.

Clarke watched as it dawned on Echo that Clarke had left Bellamy only because she needed to protect Madi, and Echo finally acknowledged that if she were in Clarke’s position, she too would have protected Madi as Heda, before protecting Bellamy. 

Clarke knew that she would not want these punishments to be carried out in her name, but she didn’t think that Madi would change her mind, unless Bellamy was able to say the magic words that would allow Madi to think again.

“Clarke, psst, come on” a familiar voice called. “You don’t want to hover like that, it starts to get a little awkward.”

Clarke turned to see the familiar, not changed a bit, face of her late best friend, Wells.

She no sooner thought that she wanted to hug him and she was doing so. It was as if thought turned into immediate action without worrying how to get there.

“Wells! It’s so good to see you again!” Clarke said with her arms tight around his neck. “I mean not good to see you because we’re both dead, but it is so good to see you even though we’re both dead and I guess that means that the after-life isn’t too bad.”

“Yeah, I’m sad to see you here so soon, but yeah, it is good to see you again” Wells said as he hugged Clarke to him. “There’s a few others here who will feel exactly the same.”

“Dad?” Clarke asked.

“Hey, Honey Bunch” a familiar voice said as Clarke was instantly in her dad’s arms rather than Wells’s. “I really wish I wasn’t holding you in my arms right now. Tell me about that spitfire of a granddaughter of mine: she looks a little bit angry down there.”

Instantly Clarke was again above the scene of her death, this time being held by her dad.

“Madi, please” Bellamy was begging.

“It is Heda! That is what you wanted and if you had not wanted the consequences then you should not have wanted me to take the flame. But you wanted me to save your family and I did, but you should have made sure that your family knew how important mine was to me. Echo was a murderous traitor before praimfaya, and she is a murderous traitor now.”

“Heda Madi; I know that what Echo did was wrong, and I am sure that I can never forgive her, but you have to know that Clarke would not want you to do this, not because of her” and Bellamy spoke the magic words.

Madi seemed to deflate. “I know that Clarke would never want me to kill anyone in her name, but the thing is, I could not live with myself if I let the murder of the woman who saved my life go unpunished: and to be honest, I think you should want her punished, or are you going to wait a few years, forgive her and fall in love with her again despite her penchant for murdering, or trying to murder the women you love, Gina, Octavia and Clarke?”

It didn’t seem possible that Bellamy could shrink into himself more than he already had, but somehow he did. “No, I want her punished” Bellamy agreed. “I don’t know this woman, this woman is not the one I grew to love on the Arc, and Raven is not the woman I thought she was either. I just don’t understand how they could do this. They owe their lives to Clarke, I know this, they know this; but I also know Clarke would not want their deaths.”

“If I were Clarke, I would” Octavia cut in. “Well at least Echo should die. She has tried to kill Clarke for as long as she has known her. She would beg Roan to allow her to kill Clarke, or for him to do it. She obeyed Roan but it always grated on her. And then she cheated in the conclave and was banished by her king and by me. And since she and three other Azgedan scum almost succeeded in killing me, I would take great pleasure in killing her myself. We could even make it interesting by making it solo gonplei. She only got as close as she did to killing me because she had help. Typical Azgeda, no honour – Nia, Ontari and Echo, dirty rotten cheats the lot of you. At least Roan had honour” Octavia was scathing.

“Octavia raises an interesting point, and I know Bellamy is correct about what Clarke would want, but I cannot be weak and allow such a crime to go unpunished. I shall take a little time to reflect and make my decision after I have paid my respects to the most wonderful and forgiving person that I, and all the Commanders, have ever known. I hope you do not take the coward’s way out and give yourself a quick death” Madi said.

“Oh, I know a few people who will make sure that she does not, Heda” Octavia said with relish.

“Oh, Octavia” a sad voice came from behind Clarke.

“Lincoln!” Clarke said and was hugging him as tightly as she had hugged Wells and her dad. “I am very pleased to see you, but why am I seeing you?”

“This is my final farewell to Octavia. There is no longer a pull towards her. The strength of the bond had become weaker over the years due to the decisions she was making, but it finally completely snapped when she sent the assassin after Heda and you. She never had any intention of allowing Heda to live, and it was that decision that broke the fragile remains of the bond between our souls” Lincoln explained. “I didn’t want to say my final goodbye with Aurora, and no one else seemed appropriate.”

“I am so sorry, Lincoln. Your death changed Octavia, it took away everything that she loved” Clarke tried to justify Octavia’s actions.

“She had Indra, her friends, even if not her brother. Killing Pike should have been the end of her anger. While she lived for her people, she made some awful decisions, but they were with the best of intentions to save her people, therefore understandable and excusable. When she sent the assassin; that was for her alone, and was at the expense of her people. That piece of selfishness was the final cut – my butterfly has gone and I am now alone. Octavia now needs to mend her soul and find a new soul mate: I hope she succeeds. How are you, Clarke?”

“Other than being dead, I’m fine” Clarke said. “Lincoln, why are you so chatty with me? You don’t normally talk so much” Clarke asked the question that bugged her.

“I feel at ease with you” he replied. “You understand me like no other here. Even Lexa can not understand why I would forsake my clan loyalty for love, but you do: that is what you did when you allowed Bellamy to open the bunker door, is it not?”

Clarke sighed. Lincoln was correct: it was her love for Bellamy that allowed her to sacrifice many of her people in order to keep him safe. Just like she would sacrifice the rest of the human race to keep Madi safe. On some level, Clarke knew that it was the wrong thing to do, one person’s value should not out weight another’s, but she would always do whatever she could, no matter the cost, to keep those she loved safe. Thinking about the one she loved the most, Clarke took another look to see what was happening with Madi.

“I have already declared that Echo is guilty of murder. You now have the chance to call witnesses and prove mitigation; otherwise sentence will be carried out of death by a thousand cuts. Call your first witness, I shall cross examine after you have finished with them” Madi said.

Emori was acting as a defence lawyer, she looked a little apprehensive on hearing the final point that Madi made. She had not thought that what was said would be questioned. 

Bellamy was the first witness Emori called.

“You saved Clarke’s life when we came back to Earth from the ring, correct?” Emori was short and specific because she knew that Bellamy was very ambivalent about helping Echo receive a lighter sentence.

“Yes.”

“You hatched a plan, together, to stop Octavia releasing the worm eggs in Shallow Valley, but it failed and Clarke ended up arrested, correct?”

“She took the full blame, yes” Bellamy said what Emori didn’t want him to say, in effect that Clarke was willing to sacrifice herself to protect him.

“You saved Clarke’s life again by poisoning your sister and allowing the Commander to take the flame, correct?”

“Against Clarke’s wishes yes.” 

Emori was going to have to get tough. “A simple yes or no will surfice. When Octavia recovered from you poisoning her to protect Clarke she had you arrested, correct? Remember, yes or no only.”

“Yes.”

“While you took action to get Clarke released, she left you there to die in the pit, correct?”

“No.”

“What? That is exactly what happened, how can you say no?” Echo shouted.

“Clarke did not leave me to die: she left me in order to get her daughter to safety. Yes she knew it was possible, if not probable, that I would die, but it was not the reason she left me in Polis.”

Emori took control of the questioning again. “None-the-less, you saved Clarke’s life twice in the space of days, and she left you knowing that you would likely die; correct?”

“Yes.”

“On the Ring you had a relationship with Echo, you said you loved her, and you knew she loved you, correct?”

“Yes.”

“So if someone left the woman you loved to die after she saved their life would you not retaliate?”

“I didn’t. When we all left Clarke to die I didn’t want any of the others dead, not you, not Echo, not Raven, no one except maybe myself. Clarke had saved Echo’s and your life a few times and within a few days we all left her to die. Clarke was proud of us for saving ourselves at her expense. I understand the need for payment, the internal demand for revenge and justice, I would be a hypocrite if I said otherwise; but not to a woman to whom we all owed so much.”

Emori was a bit floored by Bellamy’s reply, he basically admitted that he loved Clarke, but he left her to die so as far as he was concerned, it was her turn.

“You are not Echo, but knowing her as you do, are you surprised that she wanted to punish the person who left the man she loves to die?”

“I thought that the Echo from before had changed on the Ring. The Echo I loved would not want to kill Clarke for any reason except immediate self-defence, so given that I thought she was still the Echo that I loved, then yes, I am surprised. Naïve of me, perhaps, but I really thought she had changed. I’ve now lost all the women I loved, Octavia is lost to me, Clarke, Raven and Echo, and since you’re on their side, you. I’m only left with Harper who will not take sides, which in itself is a choice, I suppose.”

“Bellamy, you know our saying, ‘blood must have blood’, you must understand that that is what Echo was taking, Clarke’s metaphorical blood for yours.”

“But I am not dead, although I might as well be now. It is not Clarke who nearly killed me: I understand her actions and decision to leave. I don’t like it, but I understand it. It is Echo’s actions that have just about ended me.”

Emori could see that questioning Bellamy would get her nowhere so she sat down.

Madi took over. “Why did you not kill Octavia so that a new leader could be found for Wonkru, one that was not so determined to take the clan to war?”

“Clarke wanted to but didn’t when I asked her not to.”

“So Clarke did what you asked to protect your adult sister Octavia and between the two of you, you came up with another plan. While Clarke was chained up awaiting execution for the action that you both took, tell everyone about your final meeting in the prison.”

Clarke sighed, she did not want to hear again about how she begged Bellamy not to have the flame put in Madi, but to protect her as he would Octavia when she was so young. By the time he finished regaling the tale, Bellamy had tears streaming down his face.

“But that is not the first time you left Clarke chained up while you betrayed her is it?” Madi had to bite hard to keep a cool façade.

“No, and she forgave me then, as I forgave her for the bunker, and I knew she would have forgiven me again, if she had time.”

“Yes, forgiveness appears to be your thing” Lincoln said to Clarke. “Was there ever a limit to it?”

“The only limit was lack of remorse” Clarke explained. “I think one of the reasons I found it so hard to forgive my mom is because at no point did she ever actually say she was sorry for what happened to dad, for what happened to me. Once Bellamy looked back, he could usually see where he went wrong and was sorry for the consequences. He was getting better at looking longer term, the bigger picture and all that. I don’t know what will happen to him now. Perhaps he will be able to repair his relationship with Octavia, I don’t know.”

“How about her?” Lincoln nodded to the new witness – Charmaine Diyoza.

“ … a mug” Diyoza said.

“Would you have killed Clarke?” Emori pushed.

“Probably not, but we would have continued to torture her: but then, if you hadn’t come down from space we wouldn’t have tortured her, so it was your fault to start off with” Diyoza was smug.

“How could it possibly be our fault that you were torturing Clarke?” Emori went off script.

“She wasn’t being tortured. Once she had my word that no harm would come to her child by my people she was talking to us. She said she and her child were the only two people and then we saw you people, we thought she was lying to us so we had to make her pay for that. Of course if we knew that you had just arrived from space, we wouldn’t have tortured her.”

“All we heard on the radios was that your people were chasing after a female, with the order to shoot on sight. We thought that it must be someone from the bunker and we had to get down there to save them” Emori said.

“Yeah, I know that now. I didn’t then. We all really sucked at communication.” Diyoza was a little snide.

Both Emori and Echo were realising that they didn’t appear to have anything to mitigate. The only possibility was to play the ‘What Clarke Would Want’ card.

Madi’s question to Diyoza was one that none of them knew about: why Clarke started to kill the Eligius men.

“It was because some of the men that found me wanted to have some fun with me. I don’t really blame anyone, let alone a mother for killing someone in those circumstances: do you?”

Luckily everyone took the question to be rhetorical and no one answered.

Emori call Abby and simply asked her what she thought Clarke would want Echo’s punishment to be.

“To simply look at those who love Clarke, Madi, the Commander; Bellamy and possibly me, and to know how much her actions have hurt us. I would have thought that Raven could be classed as someone who loves Clarke, but that clearly is not the case. I think that hurts almost as much, knowing that Raven could so easily turn her back on Clarke when she had always been on Raven’s side. And you, you are only alive because of Clarke. I think I want you all to pay, but Clarke would not.”

Emori then asked Raven to say what she thought Clarke would want Echo’s punishment to be.

“The Clarke I thought I knew would not want any punishment for Echo. She would understand that as someone who loves Bellamy Echo only reacted because of that love. I don’t know what this Clarke, the Clarke who could betray us all, who could leave Bellamy to die would want.”

And Emori silently cursed because the whole point was to say that Echo should not be punished because Clarke would not want it.

Madi asked Raven why she thought that Clarke had betrayed them all when they clearly all betrayed and abandoned Clarke first.

“She was supposed to always be on our side!” was Raven’s unapologetic reply, which everyone knew would do neither Echo or Raven any good.

“I’ve heard enough” Madi declared. “If this is the best you can bring with regards to mitigation then you are really not going to get very far.”

Emori couldn’t argue with so obvious a truth.

“I agree that Clarke would understand Echo’s actions and would not want her to be punished by death, especially not by a thousand cuts. If I was only Madi, Clarke’s daughter then I would call for banishment. However, I am the Commander as well as Clarke’s daughter and I cannot allow people to think that they can disobey my orders, or kill people without suffering the consequences of those choices. Echo, you know that to disobey the direct order of your Commander could result in a death penalty, yet you chose to do so. You know that killing someone without due cause should result in death by a thousand cuts: and there was not due cause in this case since Bellamy is not dead and at the time you took your revenge he was in no danger from Clarke: Clarke had to make sure that I, the Commander, was safe, which I would not have been if Clarke had stayed to try to rescue Bellamy in Polis. As Clarke’s daughter, my safety came first with her. As your Commander my safety should have come first with you. There is no mitigation for the murder of Clarke. For disobeying my order to release Clarke I sentence you to death. For the murder of Clarke with no mitigation, I sentence you to death by a thousand cuts. The cuts will be carried out at the rate of 20 per day for 50 days. You will spend those 50 days tied to a stake in a public area so that all can see what happens when they disobey me and break the law. Water will be provided for you and minimum rations so that you live to feel the full weight of your punishment. Anyone attempting to ease your punishment will suffer along with you, or instead of you. I will carry out the cuts. Your friends will be given the rations and water that you will be allowed. I repeat, they may not try to ease your suffering since there is no way they can ease mine, and mine will go on for a lot longer than 50 days. 

“Octavia, you will liaise with Colonel Diyoza to find a suitable place for the punishment and secure the necessary stake and anything else you think appropriate given that she will not be released for toileting. There should also be another stake for the punishment of Raven as I previously declared. The first lash, and the first cuts will take place tomorrow. Escort both to the cells. Raven will be released from her cell with the death of Echo, but will receive the daily lash before breakfast every day until her sentence is complete.”

Clarke sighed in sadness. She knew that Madi was correct: she was now the Commander and couldn’t behave in such a way as she would if she were only Madi Griffin. The Commander’s orders had to be obeyed. People couldn’t just kill someone because they felt like it.

“I don’t know” Clarke referred to Diyoza, going back to Lincoln’s question. “I know that I could understand where she was coming from with everything she said and did, particularly once I realised she was pregnant. Like Diyoza said, we really sucked at communication. Poor Madi, this is one of the reasons I didn’t want her to become Commander, especially at so young an age. I know she won’t be able to be seen to regret carrying out the punishment, but she is bearing it so her people don’t have to, and it will play on her mind. I think Octavia is relishing this too much. Diyoza not such much, rather she is accepting that it has to happen. I do hope that Diyoza will be able to fill part of the void that my death will have caused for Madi. I think that Madi needs a mentor who will make sure that she hears a different perspective to that of the previous Commanders – they were not always the most peace loving of people, you know” Clarke was a little snide.

Lincoln smiled at Clarke “I remember: Lexa was probably the most peaceful in recent times. Madi will do well if she listens to Heda Lexa. You should not worry about her, now: there is nothing you can do. Why don’t I take you to see her birth parents? They have been watching and were so grateful when you came into Madi’s life.”

Clarke smiled at Lincoln and allowed him to lead her away from Madi and life in Eden. Madi’s birth parents thanked Clarke for all she did, and tried to do to protect their daughter from the flame. Their only hope now was that because there was no nightbloods to take over that Madi would have the chance to live long and arrange a new method of choosing the Commander. Clarke also met Madi’s siblings and realised how much their daughter was going to miss out: there would be no younger siblings for Madi to help raise (although they would not have been Madi’s responsibility the way Octavia became Bellamy’s), there would be no chosen for her to join with to make their own family. 

Clarke mentally damned Bellamy again, but knew that there was no point, nothing could change the past: they all had to live, or not as in her case, with what had been done and try to make the best of it.

Clarke immediately thought that she wanted to talk to her dad again.

“Dad!” and she was immediately there with him … and Callie?

“Hey, Honey Bunch. You remember Callie? We spend a lot of time together trying to work out what is going on with your mom and Marcus and what it means for Callie and me” Jake said.

“Perhaps it means that the four of you will be in some sort of polyamorous relationship” Clarke said half tongue in cheek.

Lincoln snorted and just nodded an agreement (while Clarke wondered why he was still with her).

“Very funny” Jake said.

“But possibly true” Callie added with a laugh.

Clarke enjoyed chatting with her dad and Callie about nothing in particular, just some light-hearted stories from Clarke and Madi’s time in Shallow Valley. Jake clearly wanted to talk about the difficulties Clarke experienced since his death; but he knew well enough that Clarke would not want to talk about them since most of them wouldn’t have happened if he had not tried to go public with the information about the Arc’s oxygenation problem. Clarke, like all of them, would have experienced other difficulties, but at least he would have been with her through them all – at least he thinks he would have been.

Suddenly there was a shift: Clarke wondered what was going on. Jake and Lincoln both tilted their heads in the same direction as if only they could hear something.

“Some more people want to talk to you, Honey Bunch” Jake said. “I think it would be better if Lincoln went with you since he knows them better than I.”

“Okay” Clarke agreed wondering who it could be and if she wanted to face Lexa if she was one of them.

“Jasper!” Clarke whispered as she saw him walking towards her with others from the 100 that she was unable to save; but … “no Finn?”

“No, Finn is not yet … healed” Lincoln explained.

“Guys! It is so good to see you. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t save you: that you had to die before your time. Jasper, I, I, I just don’t know what to say” Clarke whispered.

“Don’t sweat it, Princess. I don’t blame you anymore. In fact I don’t blame anyone. Everyone was just looking out for themselves and forgot that we’re all human. I know you didn’t want Maya to die: you probably didn’t want anyone except Wallace and Tsing to die, but you felt you had to save your own and you knew what would happen to us all if you didn’t. A few people here have given me a real earful for blaming you. Hey, at least I got to spend these few years with Maya and most of my friends while you got to be alone so I probably got the best deal.”

“I’m sorry I let you down by siding with Pike” Monroe said. “I think that on balance I got what I deserved with what happened to me. Fox gave me a real telling off!” she laughed.

It was nice to catch up with most of the hundred and to know that they held nothing against her for her decisions in their lifetimes. Most of them didn’t have very high expectations for a life of happiness anyway so being dead was not the worst thing to happen to them. It was Roma who summed it up by saying: “Death is a lot easier than life, at least for us”.

“Come on, there’s a few more people who want to meet you again, or for the first time, if you don’t mind” Lincoln brought her meeting with the hundred to an end.

“Who?” Clarke asked.

“I thought it would be best to get the most awkward out of the way, Lexa and Costia” Lincoln said as he watched Clarke for clues as to how she felt about the proposed meeting.

“Lexa and Costia, are they together again?” Clarke asked with a smile; no longer the same naïve teenager who had fallen so hard for the beautiful commander.

“Yes, you are alright with this?”

“It’s fine” Clarke promised. “I should like to meet Costia, I heard so much about her and I need to apologise to Lexa for what happened after her death.”

“There is nothing to apologise for” Lexa said as she approached Clarke and Lincoln while holding the hand of a woman that Clarke knew she would always recognise as Costia. “The blame is purely Ontari’s and Pike’s, with a small contribution by Becca for creating the A.I. in the first place. Costia, please let me introduce you to Clarke. Clarke this is Costia.”

Costia and Clarke spent a few moments to look each other over before they came to a joint conclusion that all is well and they smiled; saying together “pleased to meet you”. 

Clarke added “I have heard so much about your beauty and it was not exaggerated. I am sorry that your life ended the way it did. No one deserved that, especially you.”

“Thank you; and you didn’t deserve what you had to face either. I can honestly say that I am ashamed to be human sometimes” Costia replied.

Both Clarke and Lincoln snorted their agreement with that statement.

They chatted for a short while and although it was not awkward, it was not particularly free-flowing either. They caught up with mutual acquaintances (Indra, primarily) then realised that they really had little in common until Lexa smiled and looked at Lincoln with a questioning raised brow. He replied with a simple nod and suddenly two more people joined the group.

“Roan!” Clarke exclaimed as she gave him a sincere hug. “I am so sorry about your death. I really wanted you to live. The people needed you.”

“Yeah, well, I should have allowed you to ascend then perhaps things would not have gone as badly as they did with Skairipa in charge, but then again, we don’t know that. And besides, if you weren’t so damned forgiving, Echo would not have survived and you would still be down there trying keep them all together and alive” Roan gave back. “And, I’m surprised at your lack of manners in ignoring my chosen. I believe you know her” he added with a smirk that could be heard as clearly as it was seen.

“Anya? Oh my goodness, Anya. It is wonderful to see you again. And yes, I completely get how you two would be perfect for each other” and Clarke found herself hugging Anya tightly while Anya visibly tried to squirm away.

“Get off me you, you, you fool!” Anya said as Clarke finally released her former enemy. “I want to watch the spy get her come-uppance. I really hope she truly feels remorse for her choices: it is the only way she can be saved.”

“Echo may be like Finn and just never understand” Lexa said sadly. “It really did appear that, like Bellamy, she had learned but Nia’s teachings clearly went too deep.”

“Perhaps Bellamy will take up with Diyoza – there’s a woman I could get behind” Roan said with a smirk towards Anya.

“He is too much a child for her” Anya said, ignoring Roan’s attempt to make her a little jealous. “But I agree that she is quite the woman. This Diyoza would have done well with us. I wonder if we can meet when her fight is over: we can talk about the time before and she could tell us about that very impressive scar on her throat.”

Clarke watched as Roan smiled at Anya in lustful agreement. The two were clearly perfect for each other and she was envious: she wanted that belonging that the two couples with her and Lincoln had. Clarke turned to look at Lincoln and saw the same sense of fond envy that she felt and went to squeeze his hand in understanding.

Lincoln looked at their joined hands in shock: he hadn’t expected Clarke to reach out to him and was surprised at the sense of rightness that it engendered.

“Can I go see what’s happening again?” Clarke asked. “Even though it feels like mere minutes have passed I have a feeling that it is more time on Earth.”

“It is. We find it difficult to monitor time here” Lincoln agreed. “I measure it by checking in with my loved ones left on Earth. I don’t know what to do without any loved ones left.”

“By trying to stay attached to someone” Clarke suggested. “I think that I will choose to watch Diyoza’s child as well as Madi so that I can then follow life as it filters through her. I know that there will be no descendants from Madi for me to watch over.”

“You are right again” Lincoln agreed. “I shall watch Heda and then someone with whom she forms an attachment.”

Immediately they could see that Raven was crying as a result of a clearly painful lash across her bare back. Echo was stoic with her pain as Madi sliced into her flesh.

“That is 20 cuts for today. Abby, make sure that Echo does not die of infection before her punishment is over. Everyone remember, do not cut short Echo’s punishment by giving her a quick death. Anyone who does will replace her on that stake. Miller, take Raven back to her cell” Madi ordered and she returned to her personal quarters.

“Talk to me, kiddo” Diyoza demanded, earning Clarke’s gratitude forever. “I know that can’t have been easy for you, deliberately causing pain, even though you know that to maintain order and the rule of law, it has to be done.”

“I, I, I just don’t understand!” Madi cried. “How could she have done it? I know she was angry with Clarke. I was angry. I thought Clarke was being a coward, but she wasn’t. If we had tried to rescue Bellamy all three of us would probably have been killed: Echo had to know that. She had to know that Bellamy loved Clarke and would never want her dead so why would she want to hurt Bellamy if she loved him as she claimed? And as her Commander, Echo had to know that I would have to punish her or there would be a rebellion against me because I would be seen as weak. I just don’t understand why she would risk everything to kill Clarke.”

“Can I tell you what I think? It’s only a theory but it does answer your questions” Diyoza offered.

Madi indicated that Diyoza should continue.

“From what I gather Echo has always hated Clarke and has wanted her dead, right? Part of the reason for the hate has to be jealousy. The former Heda was attached to Clarke, the former King was attached to Clarke, and you, the current Heda is very attached to Clarke. None of you were as attached to Echo as you were, are, to Clarke. And then you add in Bellamy; another important person in Echo’s life who is also attached to Clarke. I really don’t think Clarke leaving Bellamy in Polis is the true reason for Echo’s action. In Echo’s view Clarke was weak enough to forgive her for wanting her dead and assumed that you would also be so weak, if she thought about it at all. Jealousy used to be called the green eyed monster, and I think that is the true reason for Echo’s actions; she let her green eyed monster loose and then tried to justify it. She may even have half convinced herself that the reason she hates Clarke is because she left him in Polis.”

Clarke, like Madi, pondered Diyoza’s words and realised that they were very probably true, or at least a major contribution to Echo’s actions. Echo probably thought that she had Bellamy’s devotion after the six years on the ring thinking Clarke dead and the fact that she didn’t probably hurt more than the cuts that Madi was executing.

“I believe you to be right, or at least partially right” Madi sighed. “I think that before I carry out tomorrow’s punishments, I shall call upon you to talk briefly about jealousy, and Jackson to talk about forgiveness the day after. Perhaps we need to start having some sort of gatherings so that we can discuss all of the sins, rules, punishments, rewards for work and good deeds – the way that I want us all to live together.”

“It’s starting to sound a little bit like religion: I’m not sure how that will go down with people. I’m all for morals and ethics, with people having the right to their own beliefs; but organised religion often leads to fanaticism in some and has done so all through history. Perhaps after dinner one or two evenings talk about how you want us all to live together because you do not want to have to carry out punishments for those breaking your laws. Spell out a few absolutes – like no murder – and ask for suggestions on how we might agree a constitution that we could all be happy with. It might help to get the others involved, make them feel that they are truly a part of the life you want us to have” Diyoza offered and Clarke was comforted that Madi was in good hands.

“Titus was a fanatic” Lexa said, surprising Clarke by her presence. “I fear that Gaia is, too; but you have told Madi the truth behind the flame so she will not falter. You did well, Clarke.”

“Umm, yeah, thanks: Madi is a great kid, but she shouldn’t have to bear this burden at her age; no one should. At least with no more nightbloods there’ll be no more conclave. I hope that Madi sets up a good way to secure the future leadership.”

“I don’t think there is a perfect way to secure leadership, there is always the potential for things to go wrong. Rest knowing that you left your people in good hands.”

Clarke pondered Lexa’s words and knew that she was correct: no method of Governance was perfect and there was always the potential for things to go wrong. Clarke knew she could do no more than to hope for the best for and from her people.

Clarke was with her dad and Callie, finally having that talk about the happenings in Clarke’s life since Jake was floated.

“I thought you were very brave” Callie said about Clarke’s escape from the mountain. “You could have been like the others and just accepted things at face value, but you had the strength to follow up on your instinct, despite the obstacles.”

“Yeah, Honey Bunch” Jake agreed. “You were so brave when you left Camp Jaha, too. Misguided maybe, but brave.”

“Speaking of Jaha” Clarke interrupted, “where is he? I didn’t see him with Wells.”

“He tends to float around various religious believers and talks to them about their beliefs. He doesn’t seem to spend any time with his family. I’m not sure if they’re still bonded, I haven’t liked to ask” Jake said sadly as he thought about his erstwhile friend.

“I think he is looking for validation still” Callie offered. “I don’t think he will find what he is looking for here, he might have to move on.”

“Move on?” Clarke queried.

“To the place where those who have not accepted what happened to them are. You are very rare in that you came here straight away. Most don’t accept their death, or their life, as quickly as you did. Some accept one or the other quite quickly, but it is rare to come to terms with both at the point of death the way you did. I accepted my death but not my life” Jake said.

“And I accepted my life but not my death” Callie offered. “It took a little while to get over it and to forgive Marcus. He only did what he thought he had to do at the time. The Earth has been very good for him. Not good to him, but good for him.”

“Sorry to interrupt” Lincoln said; “but Clarke, I think you need to see this. Aurora brought it to my attention.”

“ … I want you to pay, but more than that, I don’t want Madi to have to pay for your crime. I see the same look in her eyes that was in Clarke’s; she really doesn’t want to have to cause you this pain, partly because she knows Clarke would not want it; but she feels that as Commander she has to. Clarke wanted me to protect Madi, and thanks to you I think this is the only way I can do so now. Goodbye, Echo, I really hope we don’t meet again.”

And Bellamy gave Echo the release of a quick death by the stab in the heart the way Clarke did for Finn all those years ago. Bellamy then turned to the camera that he knew was facing the staked area so that there was a clear shot of him saying “I’m sorry for not protecting you better. I love you” and sliced his own carotid. In the days to come, there was much debate as to whom it was that Bellamy was talking – Madi, Octavia or Clarke herself. Diyoza thought that it was probably to all three.

“Why isn’t he here?” Clarke asked Lincoln.

“I think it’s because he has still to come to terms with his life. Bellamy made many poor choices that caused a lot of people immense pain and loss. Some were because he didn’t see a better way; many were because he didn’t want to see a better way. It will take a little time before he makes his way to this place. Do you think he or Finn will arrive first?”

Clarke almost smiled at Lincoln’s attempt at humour. For all Bellamy’s faults, and as much as she wished he had not arranged for Madi to take the flame, she was so grateful that he took the burden of Echo’s punishment and death away from Madi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are there any Roan\Anya stories? They'd be great as a couple! Love it, hate it, wildly indifferent, let me know.
> 
> I hope you are all staying safe and as stress free as possible in these difficult times. If reading my words take you away from it all for a few moments then I am glad.


	15. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow Clarke as she finds her place in the afterlife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has firm beliefs about what happens to a person once they die, you may be unhappy with what I have written. I do not intend to cause any offence or distress, please forgive me if I do so. I hope that this is taken for what it is: a piece of fiction designed to entertain only.

“What does one do around here for fun?” Clarke asked Lincoln. So far she had spent, well, she didn’t know how long she had spent, but so far all her time in this after life had been spent just chatting to people and as nice as it was to see all the people she loved, liked, owed a debt to, it was starting to get a little, and she felt so guilty for thinking it, boring.

“We can do whatever we want” Lincoln replied, “or in Jasper’s words, ‘whatever the hell we want’ which always raised a laugh with the other young Skaikru for some reason.”

Clarke snorted, “yeah I can see why it would. I’m feeling a little antsy, can we do some training? I never wanted to use it, but I found training to be good exercise for both body and mind”.

“I never saw you do any training” Lincoln was surprised.

“Yeah, Lexa started it. Roan gave me a few pointers, too. The flame gave me a few more and Madi and I spent a lot of time in the Valley training. I don’t know how good I am since I never pitted myself against anyone with a sword for real, but I once knocked out Anya!” Clarke was proud.

“We heard our names” Lexa said as she, Costia, Roan and Anya turned up.

“Oh, hi, I was just telling Lincoln that I found training to be a good way to exercise the body while focussing the mind and wondered if we could do some because I was feeling a little antsy” Clarke explained.

“Oh yes, sky girl, I owe you a beat down” Anya declared as an old fashioned training area appeared with a variety of swords to choose from. “Don’t worry, you won’t die again, it will just feel like it until you are well again.”

Clarke decided to allow Anya her pay back: after all, Clarke did tell Anya that they would be safe with her people and they killed her, so she was justifiably a touch bitter.

“Go easy on her, niron” Roan called. “I don’t think she has ever fought against a warrior for real.”

Clarke half smiled to herself because she now knew that she wasn’t watched very much while she was on Earth and it did give her an advantage; she just wondered at what point she should show her true ability. Did they wager in the after life?

Anya was clearly going easy on Clarke which she pretended to take advantage of so that she could clumsily defend against a few obvious hits. Knowing that she couldn’t fake such ineptitude for very long, Clarke pretended to trip and get a ‘lucky’ hit in that would have proved fatal if they were not already dead.

“Wanheda wins” Lexa said, earning an appalled glance from Clarke at the use of the appellation. “Sorry, Clarke wins. She clearly has the best of luck against you, Anya” Lexa corrected herself, knowing that the move performed by Clarke was no luck at all.

Clarke looked at Lincoln who was smiling at her with amused pity: Roan was all sympathy with Anya, but when he glanced at Clarke he shook his head ruefully: Costia, who could read her Lexa like a book, was just amused.

“You cannot be lucky all the time, sky girl” Anya pronounced. “We shall have another match, but only after you have taken a few lessons from Lincoln, Roan and Lexa. I will not let it be said that I took advantage of you” and Anya stormed off.

“Are you going to tell her, Roan?” Clarke asked.

“Are you kidding me? She would hate us all. I don’t know how long she would hold this against me and eternity is too long to risk finding out. Let Lexa ‘teach’ you first” and Clarke could almost see him raising his fingers to put quotation marks around the word ‘teach’; “then I can recap what we covered on Earth and then let Lincoln take over. Over to you Lexa”.

Lexa walked over to the weapons that were displayed and finding none were exactly what she was after, held out her hand and appeared to wish for a better one that appeared.

“How did you do that because I should like a different weapon?” Clarke asked.

“Simple, just imagine the weapon you want and picture it in your hand” Lexa explained.

The sword that Clarke brought forth was a very pretty, delicate looking thing that was made with a titanium blade, and the hilt decorated with amber and different coloured opals – the strongest metal and the lightest gems. It looked so ineffective and Clarke could hear Lincoln groan behind her.

Lincoln tried to advise Clarke against the use of her weapon but Roan quieted him with “Let it go man, she only learns the hard way, this one” all the while knowing that Clarke had already learned, probably more than any of them would be able to teach her; but they were all here at their physical peak and he didn’t know how strong Clarke had become over the years.

Watching the lesson it became clear to Lincoln that he and Anya had been duped. Clarke could keep up with Lexa in all moves – both attacking and defending with gusto. The deciding factor was Lexa’s strength as Clarke eventually began to tire. 

“Why did you not go in for the kill earlier?” Lexa asked when she had her sword against Clarke’s neck.

“Because I needed to see how good I am and learn my weaknesses. Killing you off would not have given me anything except an ego boost” Clarke replied.

“And your ego needs no extra boosting” Roan snorted. “How have you improved so much?”

“Whilst it was just Madi and me on the Earth, there was little else to do except train some days and the more I practiced the more the teachings of the Commanders from the flame came to the front of my consciousness. I also felt myself improving as I was fighting, learning how to react to different attacks, and remembering your weaknesses, Lexa. Everything you knew about fighting with Anya, I know” Clarke sounded almost sad about it.

“And what do you know about me?” Roan asked.

“Nothing that I didn’t already know” Clarke replied. “You didn’t want to beat Lexa so you didn’t fight to your full capacity. I didn’t see any of the conclave to learn anything from there.”

“Well then, let’s see how you fare against someone of whom you have no previous knowledge” Roan said as he imagined his weapon of choice into his hands.

Clarke looked at Roan and knew that he was not going to go easy on her. Luckily for Clarke she had just enough strength return to learn some of Roan’s moves before he had her on her back with the point of his sword at her neck. “Have you learned anything?” Roan asked.

“Yes, not to train or fight with you while I am still exhausted and that everyone who has taught me so far is correct: I do not have the stamina for a long drawn out battle so I need to win quickly.”

“Good, I’ll come back to train with you a bit later. In the meantime, what do I tell Anya?”

“That I seem to be a quick learner; that you think the trip was deliberate; and that I made a pretty sword” Clarke suggested.

“Yeah, okay, but why did you make such a useless looking sword?” Roan asked.

“Because on the Arc, it was all grey; there was no colour or beauty: everything was utilitarian and ugly so I like colourful, pretty things” Clarke shrugged.

“Right, I’ll call for you when I’m ready for our next session. This was fun” and Roan disappeared.

“I am afraid that I am not going to be able to teach you anything” Lincoln said sadly.

“You can help me with my stamina” Clarke offered. “Although I don’t know if it is possible for it to improve now I’m dead, but I also want to be able to use my right hand more just in case.”

“Your body will change as it would as if alive, except it will not age beyond that which is perceived to be your physical peak; which is why you will never see any old people here. All your friends here are the age you remembered them because of when they were at their physical peak while alive. When your nomon arrives, she may look different, Madi certainly will” Lincoln explained.

So Clarke and Lincoln trained together to improve Clarke’s stamina and ability with her right hand, and to help Lincoln improve in preparation for Indra’s arrival. Lincoln wanted to be able to challenge Indra when her fight was over!

When Clarke had had enough training she called for Jasper: she knew he would be the one she would need.

“What does one wager around here?” Clarke asked.

“What an interesting question” Jasper mused. “It’s funny you should ask that because we were looking for something real to wager on. The only thing we can effectively wager is dares, or favours: the loser has to carry out the dare or favour of the winner, possibly bragging rights: it’s a bit feeble, really. Why?”

“I’m going to have duel with Anya, the woman who was in charge of Trikru when you got hit with the spear. She is confident that her abilities far outweigh mine and you might be able to set up a book with how long I last, as well as actual outcome. I may win, probably will win, but I can definitely last longer than five minutes, or even ten minutes; anything up to half an hour should be a shoo-in.”

Jasper nodded his acceptance and went away to organise the book.

“I think you are still trying to bring both our peoples together, just like you did on Earth” Lincoln opined.

“I don’t think I’m doing that” Clarke disagreed. “I think that I am acknowledging that I belong with the two peoples. I know when you were on Earth you felt torn between Trikru and Skaikru, but I don’t feel torn, I just know that I belong with both. If others don’t want to mix, I won’t try to change their mind, just so long as no one tries to stop me from hanging out with both.”

Lincoln looked at Clarke and smiled with inexplicable pride.

Clarke was talking to her dad about the proposed duel, explaining how she came to know what she was doing with a sword and why she chose to decorate her sword the way she did.

“Well you certainly chose the right metal and shape for maximum strength and flexibility, and the right gemstones for distraction. This looks like a pretty piece with no practical use but I can see that you’ve taken everything I tried to teach you to make it perfect. I’m proud of you, Honey Bunch” Jake said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I want to watch your training session with Roan before I decide how and where to place my bet.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Jasper shouted as there appeared to be a large crowd gathering to watch the duel between Clarke and Anya. “Boys and Girls; Everyone! This is the moment that you’ve all been waiting for: the long awaited match between Clarke of the Sky and Anya of the Trees. Now the betting has been a little uneven and I don’t mind telling you that I have had to test my brain to its limits to come up with a plan to make sure everyone is content, if not happy, with the odds. We have just four brave souls who have wagered for a Clarke win” and there were lots of snorts of amusement and jeers of derision at that announcement. 

“Firstly, and I have to say that given his propensity for optimism, not surprisingly, Clarke’s beloved and previously thought to be wise and learned father Jake of the Sky!” Jake stepped forward and waved to the crowds, smiling at the flack he was receiving. 

“Secondly, ever since she was a babe in arms, he has blindly followed where Clarke has led so now he runs the risk of losing any cred that he has left, Wells of the Sky!” and Wells stepped forward and bowed to the jeering crowd.

“This one may be a bit of a surprise to some, but to those who have been watching, it will be no surprise that his loyalty will mean that he has no choice but to wager on Clarke – Lincoln of the Trees!” Looking a little sheepish Lincoln stepped forward and briefly raised his hand to more subdued heckling.

“Now to those who do not know their history, this one will come as a great surprise to many, but the fourth person to wager on Clarke winning is Caliban of the Trees!” This time Caliban was met with shocked silence as he stepped forward, only to be rewarded by a hug from Clarke.

“I’m so sorry” she whispered to him.

“Don’t be” Caliban replied. “I asked for it and got what I deserved. You fight on and make us proud!”

“Given the odds of a win by Clarke, each of these brave, or foolish, souls is matched by a group of ten” Jasper took control once more, clearly relishing the occasion. “Leading the group of ten to match Jake’s wager is Roan of the Ice!” Roan stepped forward and went to Anya to give her a passionate kiss all the while flipping off Clarke to the loud hoots of approval mixed with boos from the large proportion the crowd that used to be Trikru.

“Leading the group matching the bet from Wells is the lad who once swore to protect Clarke, Aiden of Polis!” and Aiden stepped forward to shake arms with Anya, but to submit himself to a hug of affection from Clarke as he tried to tell her that he held no ill will against her but he didn’t see how she could have improved sufficient to do anything but lose to Anya. Clearly he hadn’t known about Clarke taking the flame.

“Matching the bet from Lincoln is a group led by the beautiful, the wise, the most wonderful Luna!” Luna merely smirked at the mixed reception she was getting from the crowd as went to shake arms with Anya and nodded to Clarke.

“And finally, leading the group matching the bet from Calliban is the ever strange Titus of Polis!”

Clarke stared in shock at the man who had tried to murder her, and frame her friend for it, but instead killed the person he was sworn to protect. She didn’t notice the reaction from the crowd but was pleased to see that Anya did nothing more than nod her appreciation to Titus who mirrored the gesture. Titus completely blanked Clarke, which was enough to bring her out of her stupor. 

“Most of the betting is about how long Clarke will last in this friendly bout. I want you all to remember that Clarke didn’t hold a sword until she was 18 years old and she died when she was 24. Anya was probably born holding a sword and had certainly been wielding it with ferocity for more than six years so all things being equal Anya should romp this. I, however, am neutral in this, as is our esteemed referee. Everyone, please give a warm welcome to the very equitable, impartial, but very honest referee, Lexa of Polis!”

Lexa walked into the centre of the ground to loud cheers as she greeted Jasper; then turned to greet Anya and Clarke. When it was quiet again she spoke to the crowd.

“Each combatant is allowed one weapon, Clarke’s is a very pretty little rapier sword and Anya’s is a practical broad sword. If they lose their own weapon, they may use their opponents, but they may not make another. The match will continue until there is a winner. The clock will start when I tell Anya and Clarke to begin. May you fight with honour and respect. Begin!”

There was a loud roar from the crowd as Anya and Clarke tried to assess each other. Clarke didn’t miss the derisory look Anya gave her sword (which she was holding in her right hand) and despite knowing that she had been training, Anya was either a very good actor or she genuinely didn’t believe that Clarke could last very long at all.

Having had enough of watching Clarke watch her, Anya went on the attack: perhaps hoping for a quick win. The attack was ferocious and vicious and exactly what Clarke thought she would do. Either no one had told Anya that Clarke had all Lexa’s memories of Anya’s fighting skills or she had discounted it. Clarke used her sword to block the attack, and almost smirked at the shock on Anya’s face when the swords clashed and Clarke’s sword remained in tact. Taking advantage of Anya’s shock, Clarke danced around Anya and sliced her arm and shoulder. Clarke was a little disappointed that she didn’t catch the brachial artery, but was pleased to have taken the first strike, on Anya’s dominant arm, too!

“Well, Sky Girl, it seems you know a little about how to fight, but no little cut is going to stop me from ‘killing’ you again” Anya taunted and was disappointed not to get a reaction.

Clarke ignored everything Anya was saying and focussed on her eyes. To those who knew Anya well, the eyes gave away everything she was about to do. She watched and parried and waited for the moves that would allow her to get in her own strikes. There were not many opportunities for Clarke to strike back: Anya had clearly taken on board the idea that Clarke did not have the stamina for a drawn out battle so after the first failed ferocious attack, that was what she was attempting to do – draw the battle out so as to appear to be giving Clarke a chance while fully expecting to win.

Clarke conserved her energy with no unproductive attacks and was lasting longer than most had thought. Even though her sword was still in her right hand (a fact that only Jake, Wells, Lincoln and Lexa had noticed as being odd) Clarke was still able to defend against Anya’s well thought out (and therefore easily read) attacks. Deciding that it was time to up the ante, Clarke allowed Anya an in to slice her right shoulder, which also gave Clarke the opportunity to stab Anya up through her underarm of her left shoulder, thus rendering her left arm completely useless.

“It won’t do you any good” Anya goaded. “My right arm is still working while yours is not!” and Anya watched as Clarke calmly took her sword into her left arm, holding it in such a way as to make it clear that it was her left hand for which it was intended.

Clarke read Anya’s realisation in her eyes, along with her anger and resolve. It was time for the bout to end. Clarke was cut and bruised, but nothing fatal since she knew which areas of her body she needed to make sure were defended. Anya did not have the same knowledge of anatomy that Clarke possessed and left her femoral artery unprotected. It took seconds after her leg received a little cut for Anya to realise she was losing all her strength. Clarke saw it and stepped away.

The crowd watched in silence as Anya’s sword fell to the ground, and then she fell to her knees in defeat.

“No!” Roan screamed as he ran into the area and lifted Anya up into his arms.

The clock on the board stopped at 36 minutes and 24 seconds and declared that the books on Clarke lasting more than 45 minutes were null and void. The other books were to be paid in favour of those backing Clarke. Clarke thought that most of the crowd were too shocked by Anya’s apparent demise to react.

Skaikru ran up to Clarke and she was lifted and cheered like a conquering hero. Perhaps to them she was.

The cheering quietened when Anya, with Roan trailing behind her, stormed through the group surrounding Clarke to demand “How?”

“I had the flame after Lexa and from that I know your fighting abilities as well as Lexa did. After your death I was trained a little. After the death wave, once everything was settled for Madi and me, there was very little else to do other than train. I knew it was a possibility that one day Madi would be called upon to defend herself so I had to make sure that she was able to do that, be better than anyone else could possibly be. Once I improved my stamina, you didn’t stand a chance unless you gambled on a quick kill, which could have gone either way.”

“You know I like having ten people owing me favours” Jake said with a smile at Clarke. “I think that Roan is going to get fed up with me wanting to know more about the people in his group so that I can make the best choice of my favour or dare. I already know what I’m going to ask of him and from some of them, but others are a bit tricky and it would make sense to know a little beforehand, don’t you think?”

Clarke shook her head in exasperation: she knew what her dad was doing, Wells told her. Jake wanted to get a public declaration of all that was admirable about Clarke and she so wished he wouldn’t; it would be embarrassing and would do nothing to foster better relations between the two factions, although perhaps having more competitions, ones that did not rely on specific abilities might help.

“What do you think?” Clarke asked Lincoln as they relaxed together sitting at the top of an imaginary cliff watching a stunning imaginary sunset.

“I think you should get your dad to talk to Lexa about it, maybe come up with some ideas to start off with, not anything that would be along old clan lines, more individuals competing against other individuals so that Jasper could hold another book” Lincoln suggested and that is what they did.

Every so often people would be invited to apply to take part in the afterlife’s competition. As it grew in popularity, it morphed into a cross between the old Olympic Games, It’s A Knockout, Takeshi’s Castle and the TriWizarding Tournament! Everyone was aware that the primary purpose was to have fun.

While Clarke was cheering Lincoln as he raced against Costia and others as they climbed a steep wall with water pouring over she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Bellamy!” Clarke squealed as she threw herself at him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for taking away the responsibility of Echo’s death from Madi. I know why you killed yourself afterwards, too. You had to make sure that Madi then didn’t have to torture and kill you in Echo’s stead. Thank you. How are you?”

“Other than being dead, I’m fine” Clarke smiled as Bellamy echoed her own words to Lincoln. “My mom told me what’s been happening here, how you beat Anya in a sword fight and got people to set up some friendly competitive games like this one, and about your relationship with Lincoln” he added with a sad smile.

“Yeah, we were drawn to each other when we met again after he said his final farewell to Octavia and our friendship grew, and then so did our love. I admit that it’s not how imagined the love of my existence would be, but it is right” Clarke smiled as she glanced over to see Lincoln jump off the cliff holding a large rounded blow up version of herself!

“How did you imagine it would be?” Bellamy asked.

“I thought it would be all fireworks and passionate arguments and make ups; and for some it is. You should see Roan and Anya together, but for Lincoln and me, it’s calm certainty. Oh, there are times of passion and the occasional difference of opinion, but when I am with Lincoln I feel peace. I think this is why it took us a while to realise what we are to each other. What about you?”

“Mom thinks I should talk to Gina again” Bellamy said.

“Ooh, yes, Bell. I like her, so does Lincoln. He said he liked her on Earth, too and that he thought her open yet calm manner would be just right for you now” Clarke suggested. “Before, you were probably too all over the place to be really right for Gina, but now, now you are steadier and maybe, just maybe, you could be just right for each other.”

“I suppose there’s only one way to find out. Wish me luck and I’ll catch up with you and Lincoln later.”

Clarke smiled as Bellamy disappeared to hopefully meet up again with the one for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't think there is enough there to put a Bellamy\Gina tag since it is nothing more than a possibility. I hope you don't mind that I made Clarke and Lincoln the calm to Roan and Anya's storm.
> 
> The final short in this piece is very short (so far less than 1,000 words). I have finished the first draft so hope to post it within the next few days.


	16. Part 2 Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What was happening in Eden with Madi and the others while Clarke was busy organising the afterlife?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sincere apologies, I had thought that I had finished this little short but the very good OzElektra pointed out what was missing from the previous chapter and I just had to put it right. So sorry for confusion, irritation and any other bad feelings that my mistake has caused.
> 
> Please enjoy this little look at what was happening to everyone in Eden.

Clarke asked Lincoln if he would mind if they checked in on what was happening with Madi.

“Of-course not” Lincoln replied. “It has been a while so we should prepare for a lot of changes.”

Clarke sighed as she remembered the last time she had checked in, it was just before Bellamy turned up, probably about five years after his death since Hope was a young child and Madi very much a young woman.

“Hope, you should come” a young man shouted to the woman who was clearly Diyoza’s daughter. “Heda says that you are the only one who can stop your mom from killing someone and she does not want to have to punish her.”

Hope sighed and went to see who had pissed off her mom this time. It was Murphy.

“John Murphy, what have you done to piss off my mom to the extent that Heda was concerned for your life?” Hope shouted, hands on hips, feet shoulder width apart, as she had been taught to demonstrate strength and stability.

“I just asked her why she didn’t have more kids since she clearly isn’t, or wasn’t fussy about paternity” Murphy replied. “I’m interested because despite your unfortunate paternal genes you’ve turned out okay and it would be good to have more like you around.”

Clarke smiled as she heard Murphy offer what he no doubt thought was an acceptable excuse for his incredible rudeness.

“Murphy, you cannot possibly think it safe to go round casting aspersions on my mother’s taste in men when Emori has the bad taste to love you and bear your children. I know you’re bored at the moment and are just looking to stir up some excitement but don’t, because you know you will not like the consequences. Why don’t you go and help Octavia if you want something to do?”

“Not bloody likely” Murphy snorted. “I’m getting too old to be the practice guy and those kids don’t pull their punches and they hurt.”

Both Clarke and Lincoln snorted at Murphy. Looking at Hope, who appeared to be about fifteen, Murphy would be nearing 40, and definitely too old to be the training dummy! They left to look for Madi, they found her as Diyoza walked into a room to meet her.

“Heda, as much as it galls me to say, I think Murphy is right and I should have had another child” Diyoza said with a smile.

“Ah, but Hope clearly has the best of her parents, how could you be sure that another child wouldn’t have the worst, and imagine how that would turn out!” Madi smiled as Diyoza shuddered.

“Any news?” Diyoza asked.

“Jackson says it could happen at any time now. I don’t think Abby has the will to live any more. These past years have been very hard on her and I think Marcus’s death was the final straw” Madi said sadly as Clarke gasped at the meaning behind her words.

“Lincoln, can you go and tell my dad, quickly, please?” Clarke asked as Lincoln nodded and disappeared.

“Hey, Honey Bunch” Jake said as he and Callie appeared with Lincoln. “Marcus has already passed, Lincoln said, but we’ve not seen him yet so I guess it was quite recent.”

“Neither of us were called to help him move on so I expect it was Vera who is doing that for him” Callie added as the four moved to where Madi was sitting beside a clearly dying Abby.

“It’s okay to go now, Abby” Madi said. “You’ll soon see Marcus again, and Clarke and Jake. They’ll be waiting for you so you can bid this world goodbye and move on to the next.”

Clarke spared the smallest of glances to her mother as she focussed on her daughter: worrying for how this loss will hurt her.

“You know it is a horrible thing to say, but your life will be easier without Abby questioning every decision you make” Diyoza said.

“Oh I know. I have no doubt that you and Indra will continue to keep me on my toes, though. You know, I don’t know who will be the eldest of our clan now, you or Indra” Madi smirked at the still stunning woman.

“Indra is older than me by around four or five years” Diyoza said. “She and I talked about it years ago and came to that agreement.”

“Then the day after Abby’s pyre, I think we should do something to mark the new clan matriarch” Madi decreed.

Clarke noticed how Jackson seemed to be the only one truly saddened by Abby’s approaching death. She had realised that Abby’s abrasive attitude had not softened each time she looked in on them and guessed that it had taken much ingenuity on Madi’s part to not to have to punish Abby for insubordination on many occasions.

“Will you be alright without Abby?” Madi asked Jackson.

“Yeah, Octavia and Nylah make a good team. They each have their own special skills adding up to one very fine doctor. We Edeners will be fine and Hope has already suggested a youngster, Alex, to become a medical apprentice. Jordan enjoys the healing side, learning with Nylah but he has no wish to cut people open, so until Alex is fully trained we will still have two healers and two surgeons. Abby’s heart rate is dropping.”

Clarke held Lincoln’s and her father’s hands, while Callie help onto Jake’s other hand and they watched as Abby breathed her last breath. They wondered who it was who would be required to meet Abby and both Jake and Clarke expected it to be one of them: but it wasn’t. They watched in pain as Abby ascended to be met by Marcus and the two disappeared from view.

“Well, that was a little unexpected” Callie said. “I was sure it would be you, Clarke, who would have to meet her.”

“No, I don’t think I have ever been truly loved by mom ever since I came to Earth so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m sorry, dad. And you, too, Callie. I guess you really need to think about what it means for the two of you” Clarke said as she kept half an eye on Madi, who contrary to Clarke’s expectations seemed both sad and relieved.

“Yeah, we’ll catch you later, Honey Bunch” Jake said as he and Callie disappeared.

“Do you want to watch more?” Lincoln asked.

“No, but I would like to talk to Bellamy, who I am sure has been keeping a closer watch on them than you and I.”

Clarke and Lincoln found Bellamy hanging with Aurora and a man that neither of them held any recognition for.

“Hey, Bell, I’m sorry to interrupt but can you come find me when you’re free?” Clarke asked.

“It’s no problem to speak now. You know my mom, Aurora and with her is George who we think is her soul mate, but they are just getting to know each other: I have been acting as chaperone which, to be honest, is completely embarrassing and unnecessary” Bellamy snorted as Aurora and George disappeared with a wave.

“We’ve just looked in on Madi and Co. My mom just died but neither dad nor I were asked to assist with the ascension: we’re both a bit peeved that we were not even informed of the happening but Marcus Kane was there to meet her. But that is by the by. I just wondered if you could bring us up to date with what was happening when you last checked in” Clarke asked.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about Abby” Bellamy offered half hearted sympathy. “Emori had not long since given birth to a deformed still born baby boy. Genetic testing showed that her father was also either her uncle or grandfather and that her mother was also her sister. Abby said that it was at best 50:50 that such inbreeding would lead to deformities. They decided that Emori wouldn’t have any more children. But Raven offered her eggs since she had no intention of ever having children herself. She offered as a favour to her friends, but as far as she was concerned the human race could go to hell. I believe that she intended to see if it was possible to live in Becca’s lab. I don’t know if she did.”

Clarke and Lincoln were surprised by the news, but it dawned on them that they shouldn’t be.

“Octavia was having a baby by Miller or Jackson, and would have one by the other in due course and the three of them would bring them up together. Hope was being trained to succeed Madi and had been given night blood without Gaia knowing that it is artificial, although those in the know think she probably suspects. I don’t know who Gaia is training to succeed her as flame keeper.

“Monty and Harper have two kids, or they did when I looked in on them: Jordan Jasper and Zoe Fox. The baby that Octavia was carrying was to be called Clarke regardless of its gender. Other than some stirring by Raven, and snark from Abby, everything seemed to be going well for them, the Eligius people that were loyal to Diyoza also seemed to be loyal to Madi, and training Hope to be Madi’s successor probably helped with that; and Octavia’s integration and Madi’s acceptance of all the factions did no harm” Bellamy finished.

“Thanks Bellamy” Clarke sighed. “On this visit I focussed on my mom’s death and didn’t really pay much attention to anyone else, although I did note that Murphy seemed to be faring well, so thank you for that. I feel a lot happier now knowing that life is progressing for those left as it should be – peacefully.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unless I've really messed up this time I mean it, there is just one more short to come in this compilation and it is short and will appear soon.


	17. Monty Chooses To Warn Clarke About Finn's Relationship With Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when Clarke is warned that Finn has a girlfriend before she sleeps with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final story of this compilation - it's short and sweet, but I hope you like it anyway.

“Is it true, what you said about the Arc dying?” Finn asked Clarke as they were seated close together by the camp fire.

“Yeah, they have about five months of oxygen left with the current population. Your little spacewalk used up three months’ worth for everyone, why?” Clarke replied.

“My friend, Raven, well she’s my best friend; I don’t want her to die.”

“As long as the Arc knows that the radiation won’t kill us, they’ll bring the people down and she’ll be fine: at least as fine as anyone can be on this earth” Clarke finished hoping she had made the cute, friendly boy with the soulful eyes feel better.

“Yeah, I guess, but with Bellamy’s attitude to the Arc knowing that we’re alive, and the way we’re being picked off by the grounders I don’t think it’ll happen. They probably think we’re either dying of radiation poisoning or being killed by radiation mutated animals and won’t want to come down. I think we should make the most of today since we don’t know that we’ll have a tomorrow” Finn stared at Clarke, all big eyed and pleading.

Clarke, as she looked back at that time, damned herself for falling for Finn’s easy charm and kissing him. Actually, thinking that Finn was a genuinely nice boy who clearly liked her, unlike almost everyone else in the camp, she didn’t just kiss him, she pounced on him. Clarke cursed herself as she remembered allowing Finn’s hands to wander up and down her back under her tank, and make tentative forays towards her front and if they hadn’t been disturbed, she knew exactly what would have happened: but thankfully, Monty came to ask Clarke about some of the medicinal plants and she left to make her way to the dropship.

When Clarke saw the beautiful brunette run into Finn’s arms she was so glad that she had resisted the temptation to let their friendship move to another, more intimate level; so glad that she had allowed herself to trust Monty when he warned her that Finn had a girlfriend who he would bet money on would find a way to get down to the ground to be with Finn. 

At first Clarke wanted to believe that Monty was mistaken and that Raven was just a friend, but she knew Monty wouldn’t lie about them making out so she questioned Finn. Finn tried to say that he and Raven were only friends but he couldn’t lie for shit so when Clarke pressed him, the truth came out that Raven and Finn had been together for years; but Finn thought that since he couldn’t believe that there was any way by which he and Raven would be reunited he didn’t think it was worth thinking about her anymore.

Clarke was pissed that he actually barefaced lied to her. She was also pissed because the absolute minimum Finn owed Raven was the consideration of at least mourning her and their relationship properly, and respectfully instead of immediately falling into the arms the first gullible girl.

Raven clearly loved Finn so much that she was willing to get into a piece of crap pod and throw herself to the ground. That woman really had cajones and there was no way Clarke wanted to get on her bad side, or be an obstacle to that kind of love. Let Raven find out for herself that Finn is not the most steadfast of boyfriends.

Clarke was so grateful that Monty chose not to mind his own business but instead chose to give Clarke the information so that she could decide for herself as to whether or not it was worth becoming the ‘other woman’. As time passed, and Clarke saw how Finn treated Raven, Clarke berated herself for not realising earlier that charm did not equal character; that pacifism did not mean strength; that not saying something that might hurt another person was not always being kind, but was sometimes being a coward; that bragging about someone’s talent didn’t always mean that one was confident of one’s own talent, but rather it sometimes meant that one expected the talented partner to be so grateful for the verbal support that they would give everything else to the other, including total loyalty and unending forgiveness.

Finn, Clarke decided, was an ornament; a very pretty, but otherwise useless ornament and she was so glad that she decided that he was not going to adorn her life.

“Thanks, Monty” she said.

“For what?” Monty asked.

“For being you and saving me from getting involved in that” Clarke nodded towards where Finn was in another argument with Raven over his flirting with another girl.

“You’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last story of this compilation. The next set won't be ready for some time since I will be focussing on Two Krus and starting another long story, an AU of the sort I've never tried before - the 100 gang in a Day After Tomorrow type scenario (unless I find I can't do it and revert to my standard canon divergent).
> 
> Thank you to those who have left kudos, and especially to those who left comments. I may appreciate the helpful and positive comments most, but I also appreciate the awful ones because even those the writer took the time to let me know how they feel.
> 
> Stay safe.


End file.
